St Arsenius the Great, was a Roman imperial tutor who became an anchorite in Egypt. He was one of the most highly regarded of the Desert Fathers, whose teachings were greatly influential on the development of asceticism and the contemplative life.

 

First Reading: (Isa 26:7-9, 12, 16-19)

 

The way of the righteous is level; thou dost make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of thy judgments, O Lord, we wait for thee; thy memorial name is the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee. For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. O Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, thou hast wrought for us all our works. O Lord, in distress they sought thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs, when she is near her time, so were we because of thee, O Lord; we were with child, we writhed, we have as it were brought forth wind. We have wrought no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.

 

Ps 101:13-21

R./ The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

 

Gospel: (Mt 11:28-30)

 

Jesus exclaimed, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Reflection:

 

 In the Gospel of today there is a loving and friendly request to come to Jesus. He invites us to put our trust in Him, trust in the person of Jesus. Jesus was addressing the people of Israel who had to carry the yoke of too many do’s and don’ts. Jesus does not say that he will remove all their yokes; instead he asks them to take His yoke upon them. What is the ‘yoke’ of Jesus? To take Jesus’ yoke is to follow his teachings and values. It is an invitation for his followers to commit to the new vision presented by Jesus. It is binding ourselves in commitment to Jesus and his values. When animals are used to draw heavy carts, often two animals are yoked together so that the weight is divided and shared and halved. This makes the burden light. Any burden becomes easy when we carry it with Jesus.