Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30
Life was hard and difficult in Israel during Roman occupation. Taxation was high; one's toil and the resources of the land went largely to the maintenance of the Roman system. Religion itself was little help to people as it was either co-opted in support of the Roman authorities or it served the ideology of various opposition groups. Many indeed found life burdensome and laborious.
Jesus, however, comes to offer a different way in this life - the way of God who is love. God has extended this love to us in the person of Jesus, and we in our turn are now transformed by this love. We now offer love and mercy to others, helping to guide others through the impermanence of earthly existence to the permanence of God in love. Through the attending to loving relationships with our fellow human beings we find a life on earth that is not burdensome or oppressive, but easy and light.
The burden of Jesus does in fact mean carrying the cross, but through love we bear patiently the sufferings of this life, knowing them to be transitory - knowing also that in the end the burden of the cross is fear lighter and less burdensome than the weight of the sword and machine gun. The way of love alone is the way of authentic peace, liberation, and spirituality.
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