MY YOKE IS EASY...

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS (23/6/2017)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most widely practiced and well known devotions in the catholic faith. It is celebrated 19 days after the feast of Pentecost. The physical heart of Jesus is taken as the representation of his divine love for humanity. It was in 1856 that Pope Pius IX established this feast as obligatory for the whole Church, to be celebrated on the Friday after the octave of the Corpus Christi. In 1928, Pope Pius XI raised the feast to the highest rank, double of the first class, and added an octave. This octave is no longer observed because the 1955 reforms of the general Roman calendar suppressed it and many others. We must also say that this feast since 2002 has become a special day of prayer for the sanctification of priests. It was this feast that opened up the year of priests of 2009. 

This is a feast that unveils the absolute love of God for humanity. The First Reading (Deut. 7:6-11) talks about the love God has for the people of Israel by setting them apart and redeeming them, and thereupon situated them on a good soil. The love God has for us must provoke us to develop an undying love for God and his Church. The Second Reading (1 John 4:7-16) makes us to understand that he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. To prove our holiness and fellowship, we must practice love; that sort of love that is self-emptying without selfishness, inclusive without partiality, sincere without destruction, forgives without being vindictive, promotes without gratification, tolerates without calumny, etc. This sort of love can involve suffering but this suffering purifies and struggles to move the lover and the beloved to greater heights. Even though you experience discomfort, this type of love makes you to bear the situation in patience and hope.

Christ gives us a remedy of what to do when the love we show faces trial and tribulation. In our suffering, God does not abandon us. The Gospel (Matt. 11:25-30) clears us about the divine effort to ease human suffering. We are overburdened by so many things; we carry much load on us that makes us tired in our journey. Thus, it is Jesus who offers us rest. He insists that we who are overburdened are invited for rest. The yoke of Christ is easy. His burden is light. The yoke refers to oxen’s yoke. The yoke was a wooden collar-like instrument placed on the neck and shoulders of the oxen. It was used for tying the ropes of a plough to the oxen or for tying whatever load it had to pull. It was very important that the yoke be fitted for the shoulders of the oxen to prevent rubbing the flesh raw and causing sores. The yoke helps the oxen to ease the burden of the load.

The yoke thus can refer to a man’s life and task here on earth. The burdens and loads for being a Christian and the responsibility attached therein. The Greek word chrestos which is usually translated as ‘easy’ can also mean ‘well-fitting’. Christ is saying that his yoke, life and task are fitted to a person. The Christian life is fitted to us. The demand for love is bearable by us. it is not something we cannot bear. He does not lay on us burdens too heavy for us to bear. We should therefore cast all our anxieties on God because he cares for us (1 Pet 5:7). The condition for finding the rest Christ invites us to is to take up the yoke of Christ. This yoke of Christ is what is offered us in 1 John 5:3-5: This is the love of God; to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the son of God.

With love, we overcome. With love, suffering is eased. With love, progress is assured. May this divine love that emanates from the sacred Heart of Jesus constantly enkindle in our hearts more sincere love for our neighbours. Amen.