14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran
When we are tested with trials and overburdened with pain and suffering, we ask, “God, Why me?” and we fail to count the innumerable blessing that we received. Arthur Robert Ashe was an American professional tennis player. He is considered the best African – American male tennis player of all time. He won three Grand Slam titles. Ashe was the first black player selected to the unites States David Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. At the end of his life, Ashe was dying of AIDS, which he got due to infected blood received during heart surgery in 1983. From the world over, he received letters from his fans. One of them asked, ‘Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?’ To this Arthur Ashe replied, “The world over fifty million children start learning tennis, five million of them learn to play tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5,000 reach the grand slam, fifty reach the Wimbledon, four to semi–finals, two to finals. When I was the one holding the cup, I never asked God why me. And today in pain, I should not be asking, ‘God, Why Me?’”
All of us have problems in life. Big or small, these problems burden us and make us sad, tired, and distressed. When these problems go unsolved for a long time, we feel disappointed and become depressed. One of the most comforting words of Jesus in the gospel is, “Take my yoke… and you will find rest.” Anyone who feels tired, disappointed, abandoned, or depressed can easily be uplifted by the comforting promise of Jesus that He will give rest.
Here is the Good News. To all those who are alone and in need of someone to talk to, those who have no one to ask for help, and those who feel lost, lonely, and hopeless, worry no more. There is someone to turn to, someone who can listen to our endless complaints, a shoulder to cry on. He is Jesus who says, “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 yourself. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Today’s readings give the same message in a more powerful way. In the first reading, the Prophet Zechariah consoles the Jews living in Palestine under Greek rule, promising them a meek Messianic King of peace riding on a donkey, who will give them rest and liberty. The Responsorial Psalm praises and thanks a kind and compassionate God who raises up those who are bowed down. In the second reading, St. Paul tells the Christian community in Rome about two yokes, namely, the flesh and the Spirit. He challenges them to reject the heavy yoke of flesh and to accept the light of the yoke of the Holy Spirit. In the gospel, Jesus offers rest to those “who labor and are burdened.”
We need to unload our burdens before the Lord. That may be our worries, anxieties, problems in the family, suffering, health, security, and a thousand other things. Give everything to Jesus. Our Lord will transform our lives. Try to count on your blessing, not your worries.