Our Ministries
7 July

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Yoked to Jesus

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” Most people don’t know what a yoke is. In agriculture, the yoke is used to have animals work together, to pull together, to distribute the load and thus to have a discipline that makes for more productive work. The image gives us something to think about. What in our world would function as a “yoke” for us? And what would we learn from taking on a “yoke”?

In my mind and heart, to take on the yoke of Jesus would mean to take on the mind and heart of Jesus. It would mean pulling together, helping each other out, not letting anyone be left behind because we are all connected, all related to each other. It would be the yoke of love of all!

To take on the yoke of Jesus would be to act to relieve suffering, whether it’s from a natural disaster, from the ravages of disease and addictions, from the effects of poverty and the results of war, or from human actions that disregard the human dignity of others.

The yoke of Jesus is about heart and mind. How do we imitate Jesus in meekness and gentleness?

Putting on a yoke is probably something we wouldn’t choose to do. But what yoke do we use to develop a discipline of becoming more like Jesus? For me, it is about becoming less of an expert and more of a learner. Jesus never liked the “know it all’s.” He preferred those who were “the least.”

The yoke of Jesus aligns us to God’s perspective on what is important and on what is insignificant. It helps us to see more clearly the needs of others (whose burdens we can make lighter). It gives us hearts to embrace those who are different from us; it inspires us to pull together for the common good of all. And it helps us to know what we need to do to build the kingdom of God on earth as we believe it to be in heaven.

 Give us yokes, oh God! We need them so we can learn from you!

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