And I will give you rest

17 JULY (Mt 11,28-30)

The world is tired and drags itself from oppression to oppression. Tiredness, fatigue and oppression are the result of its sin, its transgression and its great disobedience to the Word, to the Commandment, to the Beatitudes and to the Gospel. The tiredness of a man is because his spirit is not fortified by his God that is no longer in him, with him and for him, but outside of him. God is the true strength. God gives all strength in his Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of fortitude. Where might man find relief, rest, comfort, joy, peace for his body, health for his soul, new impetus for his spirit and new development for his heart? Where might a man find himself and find all the forces that are the richness of his humanity?

Jesus affirms it without any shadow of doubt, without leaving room for any uncertainty. Whoever wants rest must bring himself to him, must go to Him. The tiredness of a man is not only of his body, but especially also of his spirit and his soul. Going to Christ to find true relief, also means in simple terms, that we must let our soul be washed and our heart be purified by Him. He has to give a brush to our feelings and a trim to our many vain thoughts that drown our minds and our hearts. He must take our soul and immerse in his truth. He also needs to wash our body with his Word.

Going to Christ does not mean presenting yourself to Him, asking for some grace and then retiring in good order, eclipsing and disappearing. On the contrary, it means approaching as an ox approaches the wagon to let itself be yoked, becoming one with the wagon, so that all its motor strength becomes the force of the wagon and it gets in motion. Jesus asks who turns to Him to let himself be yoked to his Gospel, so that the Gospel transmits us all its divine strength and we begin to move behind it, with it and for it. This is the true meaning of the invitation to take his yoke.

Taking his yoke means becoming one with Him. He asks us to learn from him how to carry the yoke of the Gospel on the own shoulders. And who is he? The meek and humble at heart. He is meek and humble because he is entirely delivered to the Gospel of the Father. He does not ask where he is conducted by the yoke, which he is inextricably tied to. This is the meekness and humility at heart. He knows that his Father will lead him to the highest glory of heaven. He gives himself entirely to him, entrusts himself to him and trusts in him. This is the annulment that the Lord asks all those who want to let themselves be yoked to his Gospel, his Word, his truth and his grace.

“Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

When a man is yoked to Christ the Lord, he immediately finds peace in his life. This enters its truth. The peace of life is its truth. Where there is no truth, there is not even peace, because life is out of itself, spends its days in falsehood, error and lie. Falsity transforms nature, makes it restless, deaf, stupid, foolish and it suffers because it is deprived of its life oxygen. Jesus comes, gives life its true oxygen, that is him, in whom all of the Father and the Holy Spirit live; and life revives, returns and finds its rest in its real life.

Jesus reassures those who let themselves be yoked to Him. His yoke is not heavy. It is light. Not even the weight they carry is heavy. It is sweet. This Word of his is more than true. It suffices to look at the world. Sin, vice and transgression impose a very heavy yoke on the shoulders of man. This heavy weight often kills, often performs real massacres and impoverished peoples and nations. Instead, the yoke of Jesus enriches, gives an increasingly new vitality, gives joy and peace. Nothing weighs more than sin and nothing is more burdensome then vice. They destroy.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints yoke us to Christ the Lord.