Good Morning Disciples of Jesus Christ. Today we are going to reflect on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11. What does Our Lord mean by His Yoke is light and His burden is easy? But first, here is the Holy Mass celebrated at St. Mary’s Parish in Ottawa, Canada for those that can not attend Holy Mass dues to illness, restrictions or lockdowns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxrcHhanJI.
Here is the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011&version=NIV.
Jesus and John the Baptist
“11 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.[a]
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’[c]
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,[d] and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
Woe on Unrepentant Towns
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.[e] For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
The Father Revealed in the Son
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
So, Our Lord is very upset with unrepentant towns because God Our Father not only sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to perform miracles, signs and wonders, but He also sent John the Baptist, who was also humble, and spoke about REPENTANCE, and preparing our hearts for the Coming of the Messiah. Our Lord goes on to say that even after a Prophet was sent and Jesus Christ, Our Lord, performed all of these SIGNS and MIRACLES, people still did not REPENT. Not only did they not REPENT, but they killed the Prophet and claimed he was doing works of the devil and also claimed this of the Son of God. Our Lord had righteous anger when He denounced the towns by name, and tells them that on the day of judgement, these towns will be judged accordingly and sent to Hades.
So, what also does this say for those souls today that continue to refuse to see the SIGNS that God is sending us now and His Prophets in order for us to REPENT and come back to Him? Eventually the SIGNS and MIRACLES will stop, and the judgement will come. ARE WE SEEING GOD’S SIGNS?
Our prayer group met together to pray the Holy Rosary the other day and reflected on Matthew 11:28-30. We spoke about what it means to us as God’s Disciples with these words from Our Lord in Matthew 11, verses 28-30, “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
What we learned from each other, and the Graces from the Holy Spirit, are that oxen are yoked together on a farm to carry the load in a wagon, or to till the ground that is going to be used to plant seed for crops. The oxen are yoked together with an older experienced ox, and a younger inexperienced ox. The more experienced ox teaches the younger ox how to carry the load, and not stumble or fall, and they learn to carry the load together. Our Lord was using this analogy so that we can understand that as our crosses get heavy, we can always turn to Him and ask Him for His help to assist us in being able to carry this cross He has given us. As God’s Disciples, we must learn to give everything over to Our Lord, because He shows us how to Surrender and realize that He is actually in control, and we are not in control. This is why as we mature Spiritually, our crosses get bigger and heavier, because God is Transforming us into saints that can carry these bigger crosses with His Graces. There is no possible way in this world that any of the Saints that we know throughout history could have ever done the miraculous things they had done without Our Lord being right there by their side. So, we are learning from God how to accept the cross (yoke), but also to yield to Our Lord’s teachings on how to carry the cross (trials), and to pray for His Graces, so that the cross will become lighter.
Our Lord is not saying He will remove the cross (yoke), but that He will help us carry it, and our souls will find rest. Not our physical bodies will find rest, but our souls will find rest. This is why we see with the Saints that some could bear the pain of stigmata, like St. Padre Pio, or perform unbelievable amounts of work for God, like St. Teresa of Calcutta. They are still suffering with their crosses they carried physically, but Our Lord is yoked together with them to carry those crosses, and they received rest from Him Spiritually, which overcomes the flesh, because with God all things are possible.
Let us Pray – Lord, we come to you today to pray for the Graces to learn from You on how to carry all of our crosses, especially as we move deeper into these labor pains. We know that we can do nothing without You, and we are praying for our souls to find rest in these troubled times. We Surrender everything to You, and our eyes and ears are open to hearing Your voice for guidance. Please reveal to us how to become the best Disciples we can be for You now, and the saints You expect us to be in our Spiritual journey with the Blessed Trinity. We continue to pray for the gift to live in Your Divine Will. Amen.
Here is the latest interview from Life Site News with Bishop Athanasius Schneider on “Growing Communist Culture in the West”. https://rumble.com/vod3mj-lsn-tv-episod-1-bishop-schneider.html.
Bishop Schneider states the obvious to us in this interview that Communism is spreading now all over the world, but especially in the United States. We are becoming slaves to our societies, and they determine as to how we are to behave. Wow! He is an amazing Bishop and Shepherd. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you should be seeing this now, but these brave Bishops and Priests are confirming what we are all seeing now with God’s Graces.
Here is Mark Mallet’s latest blog post on, “It’s Not Coming, it’s Here.” https://www.markmallett.com/blog/its-not-coming-its-here/.
Here is Father David Nix with Padre Peregrino with TCE 31, on “The Spirit of the antichrist.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kLDjScZk4g.
Here is the most recent message to Marija in Medjugorje on After the Warning website. https://afterthewarning.com/messages-from-heaven/medjugorje/2021/october/25/message-to-marija.
Here are the latest messages to Valentina Papagna in Australia, https://afterthewarning.com/messages-from-heaven/valentina-papagna/2021/october/28/latest-messages.
Here is the latest video by Pastor Paul Begley and his show, the Coming Apocalypse, on “The Darkest Year Coming in 2022.” Pastor Paul talks about volcanism and how eventually the volcanoes all over the world begin to erupt, and it will partially block out the Sun. This occurs as the smoke and ash continue to billow out into the air from these erupting volcanoes, the wind will also carry this smoke, ash, soot, and debris hundreds to thousands of miles away. If many volcanoes are erupting one after another, this can be devastating globally. Both Pastor Paul Begley and Mike From Around the World have explained that this has happened in the past, and will happen again, and will cause the world to go dark from the blocking out of the Sun. This will also affect our crops, and global temperatures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QX8cD-AO-Y.
Here is the latest video by the Two Preachers on more SIGNS of the end times with catastrophic weather all over the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnelARQanlA.
Emmanuel – “God is with Us.” Jesus, We Trust in You. Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, save us and the whole world, have Mercy on us sinners. Abba, Father, Thy Will Be Done.
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