Adjusting Along the Way

Radical Loyalty

Next Sunday is the celebration of the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You can read a complete commentary on the Gospel here. 37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and w…

friarmusings

Back in the day, along with a group of friends, I used to camp and backpack in the wilderness of Virginia and West Virginia. Generally, it was just for a long weekend – maybe two or three days. We would carry everything in/out. I remember having fun, enjoying it all, but I always felt like I needed a day to recover. Perhaps it was the infrequency of carrying a load, the hiking, and all that goes with the adventure, but come Monday, there was always a stiffness about my neck, arms, shoulders, upper back and all the rest that is connected to those parts.  I could still feel the after effects of the pack’s burden.  “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” It sounded like the perfect scripture for the post-camping Monday mornings.

Not in the Flesh, in the Spirit!

Daily Prayer, Spirituality and Worship in the Roman Catholic Tradition

A Concord Pastor Comments

But there are many ways a person can be trapped, living in the flesh, and distanced from living in the spirit.

• I might be trapped in drinking or drugging, living in the flesh of addiction.

• I might live in the flesh of loneliness, convincing myself that I’ll never find love, that no one will ever love me. 

• I might be live in the flesh of work-aholism, unable to let go my job, my work, my busy-ness.

• I might be burdened by the flesh of a relationship that manages my life in destructive ways.

• I might live in the flesh of pornography,  caught in web of fantasy, robbing me of reality.

• I might live in the flesh of anger, feeding on bitterness that sours my soul.

• I might live in the flesh of some bad habit, imprisoned by my own inability to break through its walls.

• I might live in the flesh of jealousy,  bound by envy of what others have that I don’t.

• I might live in the flesh of wealth, convinced that all I have is never quite enough.

• Perhaps I live in the flesh of self-pity, feeling sorry for myself, blinding myself to the value and worth of my life.

Fear and Love

RELATED HOMILIES:
Listen to the Women (2011)
How is a Burden Light? (2017)
Humble Pride (2020)

There are real fears in our life.  We have fears about our health.  We have fears about the economy.  We have fears about the decisions our children might make.  We have fears about divisions that exist in our family, or security in our country.  All of these fears can paralyze us.  But if we give those fears to the Lord, if we can trust in his presence, then we can face the future with the confidence of his love.  And that is good news indeed. 

Exchanging Anxiety with Serenity

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A. 5th July 2020 Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9,11-1; Matthew 11:25-30.   In today’s gospel, Jesus Christ invites us to himself in order to exchange our

Sunday Homily

In today’s gospel, Jesus Christ invites us to himself in order to exchange our anxiety with serenity. He says to us, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ This is the wisdom that is hidden from the clever and the learned, which is now revealed to the humble, mere children.

On Being a Joyful Christian

The Gospel tells us to be united to the Lord, to turn our burdens over to him and to allow him to refresh us. The reading says that our souls will find rest for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus says, “Give me all your problems and all your concerns, your many difficulties and trust me.” We need to turn everything over to the Lord: our feelings of being overwhelmed with financial burdens, the down times in our relationships, the boring aspects of our jobs, our continual concern for our children, our concern for our parents or our children or our own health. We need to turn it all over to the Lord and be at peace. We need to have faith that no matter what happens, if we have union with the Lord, as Julian of Norwich, that mystic of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century wrote, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”

Stop Yoking Around

Stop Yoking Around - A Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year - Community in Mission

We in the West live in a place and at a time in which almost every burden of manual labor has been eliminated. Not only that, but creature comforts abound. Everything from air conditioning to hair conditioning, from fast food to high speed internet, from to indoor plumbing to outdoor grilling, from instant computer downloads … Continue reading "Stop Yoking Around – A Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year"

Community in Mission

Jesus wants us to work on the inside and presents us a teaching in today’s Gospel on being increasingly freed of our burdens. He doesn’t promise a trouble free life, but that if we will let Him go to work we can grow in freedom and serenity.

1. Filiation 
2. Imitation
3. Simplification

Peace for Our Souls

If we live according to the flesh, using St. Paul’s terms, we will be filled with pride, anger, selfishness, etc.  If we live by the Spirit, we will be filled with humility, charity, meekness, peace, etc.  The Spirit of Christ is love; the yoke of Christ is love: it brings peace to our souls.

Yoked to Christ

Yoked to Christ

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A Many of you must be really relieved to be back in Church after such a long break. For some...

michaelckw.blogspot.com

So, how can we experience this lasting rest? What our Lord proposes seems strange – we need to shoulder His yoke in order to find rest. A yoke was not created for rest; it was created for work. It literally has nothing to do with rest at all. When Jesus invited the weary and heavy laden to come to Him and find rest, we would expect Him to say something like, “Take off the yoke – be free!” But our Lord’s solution for weariness was not to cast off the yoke; but rather to yoke ourselves to Him, to walk in step with Him. Those who were under the Mosaic Law were said to be yoked to Moses. Likewise, those who call themselves Christians, should be similarly yoked to Christ. To be yoked to Him means to submit to His authority. Instead of being crushed by His authority, Christ offers us freedom and rest. This is a different kind of yoke, one perfectly fitted to support us. When we are yoked to Christ, He carries most of the weight. That doesn’t mean being yoked to Christ will always be comfortable, but it’s not supposed to crush us either. His yoke ultimately points to the cross. The cross will demand self-denial but it also promises salvation.

Clergy E-Notes

Pro-life reflections and intercessions related to the Sunday readings

Come and Rest

Our Modern society has been plagued by stress and depression. Stress is the cause and depression is the condition or consequence. Stress lasts for a few days, but depression can last for a long time. Stress happens when there are tensions, pressures, threats, or demands, that you feel you are unable to cope with. These tensions, pressures, threats, or demands can come from outside you or from within you. When we are stressed, we feel anxious, uneasy, tense, fearful or panicky just thinking about unpleasant situations, people or events. Too much stress causes damage and dysfunction to our body, mind, and spirit.

I Give You Praise, Father

Bottom line: In the Eucharist you join the whole cosmos in giving thanks to God. With Jesus we can say, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”

The great theme in today’s reading is praise and thankgiving. Our Psalm says, “I will praise your name forever…” And Jesus exclaims, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” Praise springs from a grateful heart.

In spite of all we’ve been through this year, I feel a deep gratitude. As we celebrate Independence Day, I am thankful for our nation in spite of all our troubles. For me gratitude is personal and local. I think about our parish mission statement: “Blessed to live in this beautiful valley, we are Christians in union with Pope Francis and Archbishop Etienne who strive to lift up Jesus, love one another and make disciples.”

RELATED HOMILIES:

2017:  Spiritual Warfare Week 3: The Yoke of Jesus
2014:  Life in the Spirit Week 1
2011:  Take My Yoke
2008:  Not Debtors to the Flesh
2005:  The Real Revolution
2002:  Come to Me You Who Are Burdened
1999:  Where are the Catholic Politicians?

Come to Me All You who Labor and are Burdened

Some people are blaming God for the bad weather and are angry with God. God does not send us anything bad. God only sends us what is good. If you turn from God because of bad weather or because of any other crisis that comes upon you, to whom will you then turn? God is the only one who can help you through any situation. Unfortunately some people are turning to New Age practices, and to practices like palm reading, tarot card reading and all sorts of other practices for solutions to life’s problems. They should know not to expect good to come if they dabble in such practices. Turning to such people for advice is the same as saying that you no longer believe God is in control of your life. Either such people and their powers are in control of your life or God is in control of your life. Decide for God. In our second reading we heard,

Psalm 145: Delight in God

Today’s Responsorial Psalm consists of a few verses from Psalm 145. The whole psalm is an expression of delight in who God is. Even in the few verses selected for today, we hear the psalmist claiming that God is kind. Twice he speaks of God’s compassion – a word that in the original Hebrew language comes from the word for the womb. God is like a mother who feels every movement of the child whom she enfolds in her womb. The psalmist goes on to express his amazement at how long-suffering God is, putting up with our slowness to believe his love for us. By giving us existence, God has committed himself, like a father or a mother, to love us unconditionally. God, we are told, is ‘abounding in love’, ‘faithful’ and ‘gracious’. He ‘supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down’.

Setting Free the Flesh

Paul is famous for his suspicions about the body. His own words make him suspect. “If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the evil deeds of the body, you will live.” Such texts have opened Paul to the charge that he is anti-body, even Manichaean, in his theology.

We know, however, that Paul’s view is far more nuanced than might first be suspected. The word sarx, “flesh,” does not indicate the same reality as soma, “body,” the latter word being far more integrative and unifying than the former. But the human body or soma can be jailed in the prison of mere flesh if it is without the liberty of spirit and soul.

The Yoke of Jesus

As you know, a yoke in this instance is something that you put on an animal, such as an ox, to help till the field. Typically a yoke would have two openings in it, as it was easier for two oxen to till the field rather than just one. We know this is the type of yoke Jesus was talking about because he says, take my yoke upon you, learn from me, and the yoke will be easier and the burden lighter. What Jesus is saying is, “I am the other ox”. Whatever burden we are carrying in our lives, whatever it is we are currently struggling with, be it a death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the move into a new house, trouble in a marriage, an addiction, whatever it is that is weighing us down, God reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ, as an ox willing to carry most of our load for us. Now notice that Jesus doesn’t say that he will take the yoke and burden from us altogether. No, Jesus only says that with him, the yoke will be easier and the burden lighter.