The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate our choice of support for our journey to freedom.
A custom yoke
In the passage from the Book of Exodus, Moses is directed by God to confront the Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom. Psalm 105 is a thanksgiving for the action of God to lead the Israelites to freedom. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus invites us to be yoked with Him and to experience that with Him our burdens are lightened. Jay Carney comments that Jesus offers us a chance to let go of our illusion of control as we entrust ourselves to a loving and liberating God who will remember His Covenant forever. Don Schwager notes that yokes were custom fitted as he quotes "Grace Bear Us" from an anonymous early author in the Greek Church. The Word Among Us web site urges us to spend some time meditating on God's name, "I am who am". Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the contemplative practice of Brother Lawrence, a French Carmelite monk of the 17th Century who carried on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God that filled him with overwhelming joy. Friar Jude Winkler comments that I AM Who Am has two meanings to the rabbis. God created us to serve us. We saw that name in Genesis too. The Gospel tells us to rest in Jesus and take His yoke upon ourselves. The burden on our shoulders is carried by Jesus by our side. When we contemplate the desire of God to be with us and lead us to freedom and full life, we experience the Divine Love that we are called to share with all people.
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