Gospel (Mt 11:28-30)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Commentary

The Gospel for today’s Mass reminds us of some consoling words from Jesus: his invitation to draw close to him to receive help and comfort along the way. Jesus invites us to go to him, but in reality he is already by our side, and drawing close to him is as easy as opening our heart to him.

Without Christ we cannot go forward, we cannot live. As martyrs of the 4th century said, sine dominico non possumus: “we cannot live without celebrating the Day of the Lord,” which wonderfully expressed this truth that they bore witness to by shedding their blood.

It may surprise us that Jesus both offers us comfort and, at the same time, asks us to bear his yoke. Our Lord’s words always challenge us: both to understand them and to accept them.

But if we ourselves had been accompanying him and seen him preaching, healing, crying, getting tired and resting, his words wouldn’t surprise us. We would have heard him say that his Father does not stop working and that he is also working (Jn 5:17), and we would have seen him happy despite the effort, the fatigue and even the rejection he met with.

His example reveals to us what love truly is. For love is a yoke, but it is an easy yoke. True love is “subordinating” oneself to the loved one, giving oneself. Love is forgetting about oneself and living for others. And this is especially demanding in a world in which sin is present. But this is the yoke that he invites us to take on.

Jesus invites us to share in the sentiments of his own heart. The path of love is only possible for those who are gentle and humble of heart. For love is always humble, and requires gentleness and mercy. Love cannot take deep root in a heart without self-dominion. And self-dominion is possible only if Christ reigns in us.

Love requires understanding others, forgiving and being compassionate. A love that is not humble, that stops giving when one doesn’t receive anything in return, is not true love.