Homily on Matthew 11:28–30: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (17-7-25)

  A Heartfelt Homily on “My Yoke Is Easy” (Matthew 11:28–30): Finding Rest in Christ Amid Life’s Burdens(17-7-25)

Praise be to Jesus Christ 

Years ago, during a terrible famine, a farmer was walking down a long dusty road with a heavy sack of rice on his back. He was tired and sweating. A bullock cart came by. The driver, seeing the man struggling, invited him to climb in and rest. The man got into the cart but kept the sack on his shoulders. The driver laughed and said, “Brother, you’re sitting on the cart. Why not put down your load too?”

This is how many of us live. We go to church, we say we believe in Jesus, but we still carry the burdens of life all by ourselves. We don’t let Jesus carry our weight. We sit in His cart, but we hold on to the sack.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” And then He adds a strange line: “Take my yoke upon you.” We might ask, why would someone who is tired want to take on another yoke?

But here is the beauty. Jesus is not giving us a new weight, but He is inviting us into partnership. A yoke is not worn by one ox alone. It is a double yoke, meant for two. Jesus is already in one side, and He invites us to walk with Him. The work is shared. the steps are guided and the burden is no longer ours alone.

Let us more focus on the word yoke. In Jesus’ time, a young ox was trained by being yoked with an older, stronger one. The elder ox carried most of the weight and guided the younger one. The young ox still walked, but it was not alone. This is the image Jesus uses. He does not say we will have no burden, but He says that with Him, it becomes light.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta carried many burdens: Poverty, sickness, rejection. But her face often shone with peace. When asked how she managed, she said, “I am only a pencil in God’s hand.” Like the farmer in the cart, she had learned to lay her burden down and trust the One who carried her.

There is something more hidden here. In Hebrew culture, “yoke” also referred to a rabbi’s teaching. Many rabbis had strict laws and heavy rules. But Jesus came with something different. His teaching was based on love, mercy, and relationship. He did not ask people to prove themselves first,but He gave them rest, and then walked with them.

Today many of us carry burdens likes worries on family ssues,  failing health, Secret shame, fear about the futur, financial crisis etc.. Even spiritual burdens like questions, guilt, or a sense of not being good enough for God. We smile outside but inside, we are tired and worried Jesus sees that. However, He doesn’t say, “Try harder,” nevertheless, He says, “Come.” What a beautiful invitation.

Coming to Him does not mean we escape our responsibilities, but it means we live them with JESUS. As Saint Augustine once said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” Jesus is not a magician who removes every problem.  But He is the Companion who makes the journey bearable. When we allow Him to guide us, life may still be hard, but no longer hopeless. This is the message of today’s Gospel

In a small village, I once met an old woman who had lost everything in a flood; her house, her crops, even her son. Yet she said just like Job, with a smile, “God gave, God took. He will give again.” That was not foolishness. Moreover, that was someone who had learned to walk under the yoke with Jesus.

If we try to carry life alone, it will crush us. But if we share the load with the One who is gentle and humble in heart, we will find strength. We will find rest, not by avoiding pain, but by facing it hand in hand with Him.

Let us then, dear friends, not just sit in the cart with our sack still on our back. Let us lay it down. Let us trust the One who is already walking beside us.

Jesus, help me to stop carrying my burdens alone. Teach me to walk with You and find rest in Your heart.

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God Bless…