Christianity is Easier
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
by Fr. David M. Knight
View readings for 2nd Wednesday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings
Lectionary no. 183 (Isaiah 40:25-31; Psalm 103; Matthew 11:28-30)
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened… for my yoke is easy, and my burden light. Matthew 11: 28.
When I was 12 years old, I had a summer job unloading boxcars at my uncle’s lumberyard. I worked together with a huge black man named Luther, who would consistently pick up most of the load, saying, “You an’ me, an’ mostly me!”
I hear Jesus saying that now whenever I feel overburdened. He told his disciples, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So anything he asks us to do, we know he is doing it with us: “You an’ me, an’ mostly me!”
Christianity isn’t easy, but it is easier than any alternative. Compared to the burden of cultural conformity, the Christian life is the least constrained on earth. Christ has made us free. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2). He has lifted from our necks the yoke of slavery to the culture and replaced it with the one he bears himself. His yoke is empowerment to live on the level of God. There is no constraint in living out infinite values.
DAILY PRACTICE: Whenever you have too much to do, think of Jesus doing it with you. Shift some of the load to him.
ADVENT PRAYER: Keep saying: “Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me… You and me, and mostly you!”
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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