15th Week in Ordinary Time
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
Think about all the times we hear commands in radio and TV ads. “Start using your checkout account today!” “Don’t lose your reward!” “Buy now and save!” Such commands, clearly, are designed to stir us to action.
Jesus sometimes speaks this way to us, too. In today’s Gospel reading, for instance, he issues a compelling command, one with promises attached that far outstrip any promise made by any advertiser. Come to me! he commands, and I will give you rest, he promises (Matthew 11:28).
And yet Jesus knows how easy it is for us to set aside his command to come to him and so miss out on his promise of rest. We have all kinds of reasons why we don’t come to him. Guilt or shame can keep us away because we feel unworthy to be in Jesus’ presence. Or maybe we are feeling overwhelmed, so busy trying to get things done that we just don’t feel we can make the time for God. Distractions, especially the “noise” we face every day from the myriad forms of media and entertainment, can make it difficult to quiet our minds and settle into Jesus’ presence. Or we might be tempted to think, “I’m okay. I don’t need to rest with Jesus right now. I can do this if I just work harder.”
Whatever the reason, Jesus still says, Come! Come to me when you’re feeling bad about yourself. Come to me even when you think you’re too busy. Come especially when you’re distracted. Come when you are depressed or anxious or lonely. Come, even if you think you can do something without me.
So what are you waiting for? Using your faith and your imagination, place yourself in Jesus’ presence right now. Tell him what’s on your mind—your burdens, your victories, your worries, your workload. Even tell him about your sins. He won’t judge you; he’ll forgive you! Then close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You may not feel anything right away, but you can still trust that he is pouring his blessings on you—precisely because you came to him.
“Jesus, I need your rest, so I come to you to take on your yoke and learn from you.”
Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
Psalm 102:13-21
Saint Jerome (347-420)
priest, translator of the Bible, Doctor of the Church
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, Bk. 3, Ch. 6
The light burden of the law of Christ
“Bear one another’s burdens and so you will fulfil the law of Christ.” Sin is a burden as the psalmist attests when he says: “My sins weigh heavy upon me.” But the Lord has carried this burden for us, teaching us by his example what we ourselves should do. For it is he who bore the burden of our sins; he was stricken for our sake (cf Is 53:8) and invites those who are weighed down by the heavy burden of the Law and of their sins to carry the easy burden of virtue, saying: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30).
Therefore whoever holds out a hand to the person who begs for support, not despairing of a neighbor’s salvation, who weeps with those who weep, is weak with those who are weak and who regards other’s sins as though they were his own: such a one fulfils through charity the law of Christ. What is this law of Christ? “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 13:34). What is the law of the Son of God? “Love one another as I have loved you.” How has the Son of God loved us? No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).
Someone who shows no clemency, who is not clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears, no matter what sort of student he is in spirituality, such a one does not fulfil the law of Christ. Someone who comes to the assistance of the poor weighed down by the burden of destitution and makes friends with dishonest wealth (Lk 16:9), such a one shoulders the needs of his neighbor. This is the one to whom Jesus will say aft the general resurrection: “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” (Mt 25:34-35).