July 20, 2025

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

by Fr. Jonah Teller, OP

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface while he’s away.

One of the daily Mass Gospel readings this week came from Matthew 11, where Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor 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” (Mt 11:28-30).

Frankly, that doesn’t always sound like Christian life.

I’m not alone: St. Augustine said the same thing about Christians 1,627 years ago: “They seem to have been called from rest to labor, rather than from labors to rest.” He points to people like St. Paul, who himself wrote that, in the course of following Christ: “Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Cor 11:25-27). A yoke, yes. A burden, definitely. But easy? Light?

How to make sense of all this?

Love. Love makes hard things easy. It makes bitter things sweet. Ask anyone who has stayed up all night in a hospital room next to a sick loved one. Yes, it’s hard, yes, it’s exhausting, and yes, it’s a light load to carry for the one you love..

St. Augustine again: “There you have what makes that yoke comfortable, and that load light. Even if it’s oppressive for a few who choose it, yet it is easy for all who love.”

Peace,
Fr. Jonah, O.P.