Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor 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 yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This is the second time in less than two weeks that we’re hearing today’s Gospel. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Perhaps the Lord is repeating himself through these readings because there may have been something that we missed or need to hear again.

We’re all familiar with the image and the invitation that Jesus is extending. Imagine two oxen linked by a wooden yoke, charged with plowing the fields together. One of the two is older, stronger, and more experienced than the other.

Clearly, the stronger one is Jesus. We, relatively new to the world, are the weaker ones who can rely upon his help. 

On the surface, it’s a comforting invitation.

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However, this image can be much harder to digest for one who really needs to hear it. We only feel the need to yoke ourselves to Jesus when we’re overburdened by life.

And when bad things happen, how often do we blame God for it, asking, “Why?” As if all of the evil in the world is somehow his fault, for either causing it or allowing it to happen.

If this is our approach to God, then it becomes awfully difficult to yoke ourselves to him. Sometimes the yoke only fits when we choose to surrender our need for understanding, accepting God on God’s terms, instead.

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There’s a prayer I pray each morning called the Suscipe. It was written 500 years ago by a man named Ignatius. He begins with this note of surrender: “Take, LORD, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding.”

He concludes, “Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.”

Ignatius learned the art of yoking his heart with Christ through surrendering his need to understand his problems, his pain, and the world around him. While wisdom grew in his heart, more importantly, his burdens became lighter.

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“Come to me,” Jesus says, “all you who labor and are heavy burdened.” 

While he does not promise answers, he does promise rest. 

If I had to choose between the two, give me rest.

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Image credits: (1) (2) Wayfare, Faith Matters (3) Jesuit High School

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Gospel: Matthew 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed: 
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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A number of studies have suggested that the primary reason why Catholics do not share their faith is out of fear.

There’s the fear of inability, the feeling that we do not know enough about our faith in order to explain it convincingly to others.

The fear of rejection. Deep down, aren’t we all afraid of being turned down? How much deeper does that fear run when we try sharing our faith, the deepest part of ourselves with others?

And the fear of failure. Such a fear leads to a variety of missed opportunities – not only in terms of relationships, our career, or life-experience, but also in bringing others to Jesus. 

How do we overcome these fears?

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While some may find it hard to understand Scripture, or difficult to explain its relevance to our daily lives, the best evangelists are the ones who simply live their faith. 

Think of people like Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day. They did nothing extraordinary in the world’s eyes – they clothed and fed the poor. Yet who has not been inspired by their example?

Or Saint John Vianney. He had to overcome multiple obstacles in order to be ordained a priest. He would’ve been the first person to tell you how difficult Latin and theology came to him.

Yet he transformed a large swath of Catholic Europe just by sitting in the confessional for 16 hours a day.

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While fear is something we all experience, some of the world’s greatest evangelists were ordinary people who changed people’s hearts, not by their eloquence or persuasive arguments, but by love.

They were the “childlike,” the innocent ones, whom Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel.

This is, perhaps, what God is asking from all of us today – to share the Good News by living simply and loving deeply. Be kind. Love your neighbor. God will do the rest.

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Image credits: (1) Instagram (2) I’m Listening to God, WordPress (3) Concordia Gospel Outreach

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Gospel: Matthew 11: 20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:

Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s one thing that all parents, grandparents, priests, and ministers of the Gospel have in common: We plant seeds.

Seeds of kindness, hope, wisdom, love, and faith, often in the hearts of younger generations – children and grandchildren. 

Sometimes we live to see the fruit of our labor. Other times, we don’t.

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Such was the case for Father Isaac Jogues.

Isaac was a French Jesuit, who was one of the first missionaries to bring the Gospel to the Native Americans in the 1600’s. Four years before he was martyred, Isaac was beaten and tortured so badly that he was already regarded as a “living martyr.” 

He spent his ministry in America planting seeds of faith without seeing its fruit.

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Ten years after his death, a girl named Kateri was born in the village where Isaac was killed. Her parents and brother died in a smallpox epidemic when she was four. Raised thereafter by her uncle, Kateri was left nearly blind with scars across her face.

The locals called her, “Tekakwitha,” which meant, “she who bumps into things.”

Throughout her childhood, Kateri listened to other French priests who passed through her village, following in the footsteps of Fr. Isaac Jogues. 

Although she said nothing to them as a child, when she turned eighteen, she sought to be baptized. In a village that gave no welcome to Christians, Kateri became a Christian.

After enduring a year of abuse by her relatives for professing her faith, Kateri decided to make a 200-mile journey on foot to a Native and Christian village outside of Montreal. 

There she embraced a life of penance, praying for the conversion of her people, accepting Christ as her Spouse.

Almost 350 years later, in 2012, Kateri was canonized as the first Native American Saint.

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While Fr. Isaac Jogues died without ever seeing the fruit of his labor, he reminds us that some of the seeds we plant in life will, in time, bear good fruit. 

May we all find a way to plant a seed of faith in a child like Kateri today.

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Image credits: (1) Magnific (2) Instagram (3) Peak Beings Yoga