'Take my yoke and put it on you,
and learn from me, because I am gentle
and humble in spirit;
and you will find rest.'
Matthew 11: 29
In Indian movies, when I was a young boy, I remembered seeing those huge cows carrying a yoke on their back, pulling a cart with people and farm produce on it. Those Indian movies are a classic!!! Watching Indian movies was one of my favourite weekend activities when I was in primary school.
In the Gospel today, I wonder why will Jesus ask me to carry his yoke? 'Take my yoke and learn from me', says the Gospel according to Matthew. I never tried taking a yoke on my back, the closes I have is taking a stick on my back to perform some back strecthes after my gym exercise. But, seeing what a yoke looks like in the movies- those bulky, old looking log indicates that taking the yoke alone is not a nice job to do.
I was reflecting and I realized that to learn is to strive with hard work. Like many if we want to survive in the world, we need to be willing to work hard. So, to learn about the Kingdom of God, to realise the mysteries of life I will need to work hard. To gain wisdom, to learn of God, I need to place in appropriate work load on spending time reading the Sacred Scriptures, Prayer, Solitude, Works of Mercy.
The comforting message of Jesus is that He assures me that 'He is gentle and humble'. Jesus tells me in the Scripture that He is unlike the others who will whip and, maybe, ill-treat their cows. Jesus, tells us who are willing to take His yoke and learn from Him that he will be a gentleman and a person of humility.
How nice if the people in the world, perhaps such as our employers and people of power, can also be like-Christ who is gentle and humble? How nice too if I can be conscious that the yoke of Jesus is on my back and I am to learn from Him? Sadly, so often I forget this fact that I am merely a 'cow' with a yoke on my back, learning from my master Jesus who is gentle and humble.