Until the day we are fully united with our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, our bodies and minds will groan as if in labour. We will have to constantly battle to resist sin and temptation. We will have to face the challenges of growing pains as well as the pains of growing old; of losing mental acuity and physical degradation. We will have to face hardships in carrying our cross as disciples of Christ.
So we must make a decision today and everyday on whose yoke do we want to carry or yoke ourselves to for that matter? Do we yoke ourselves to the world and all it has to offer? Or our very own yoke which we nicely carve out for ourselves? Or do we yoke ourselves to Christ who will see us through it all and will be with us to the very end and beyond!
As for me and my home, we choose Jesus Christ! Amen
First reading
Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19 ·
‘Awake and exult, all you who lie in the dust’The path of the upright man is straight,
you smooth the way of the upright.
Following the path of your judgements,
we hoped in you, O Lord, your name, your memory are all my soul desires.At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you; when your appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.O Lord, you are giving us peace, since you treat us as our deeds deserve.Distressed, we search for you, O Lord; the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.
As a woman with child near her time
writhes and cries out in her pangs, so are we, O Lord, in your presence: we have conceived, we writhe as if we were giving birth; we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth, no more inhabitants of the world are born.Your dead will come to life, their corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.
Gospel
Matthew 11:28-30
My yoke is easy and my burden lightJesus said, ‘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.’
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