“The greatest temptations are not
those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great
evils masking as the greatest goods." ― Fr. Thomas Merton O.C.S.O. (was an
American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani
in Kentucky)
Gospel text (Mt 12,14-21):
The Pharisees went out and made plans to get rid of Jesus. As Jesus was aware
of the plot, He went away from that place. Many people followed him and He
cured all who were sick. Then He gave them strict orders not to make him known.
In this way Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled: «Here is my servant whom I have
chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will put my Spirit upon
him and He will announce my judgment to the nations. He will not argue or
shout, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed He will not
crush, nor snuff out the smoldering wick. He will persist until justice is made
victorious and in him all the nations will put their hope».
It is kind of funny: Jesus invites us
to cast off our burden, while He is offering us another one: his yoke, with the
promise, however, that it is a soft and light one. He wants to show us that we
cannot go around the world without any burden upon us. We are to carry some
kind of load, anyway. Let it not be a bundle full of selfishness; let it be,
instead, his burden that does not encumber us.
In Africa, mothers and elder sisters
carry their offspring on their back. A missionary, once, saw a girl carrying
her little brother... And he asked her: «Are you sure he is not too heavy for
you?». And she answered back without thinking twice: «He is not heavy, he is my
little brother, and I love him».
Love, Jesus’ yoke, it is not only light,
but it also sets us free from all that overwhelms us.
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