The Light Yoke, The Easy Burden

Last updated on: January 18, 2017 at 9:28 pm by Kate Cousino

The Light Yoke, The Easy Burden 2017-01-18T21:28:48-04:00 Kate Cousino

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I want to write on this idea that the Christian life is so hard and arduous that it somehow cannot at the same time be positive and optimistic…I think this is one of those mysteries where contradicting statements must both be true – that the fruit of the Christian life is peace, love, joy and yet the price of the Christian life is persecution and division. That in the Church we are all part of Christ’s body and yet the wheat and the tares will grow together. That we must embrace hope and faith that in Christ all things come to good for those who love him, and yet every day we experience disappointment and the cost of our own sin. We are both our brother’s keeper and we are commanded to leave judgment to God.

Anyway…thinking about all of these things and trying to figure out where to start sorting out my own thoughts on the subject, I remembered that the pastor at the parish DH and I used to go to had a homily we heard from him on a couple of different occasions that tackled this mystery head on with an exegesis of the verse “my yoke is easy and my burden light.” I looked to see if the homily was available on the parish website and lo and behold, there was the full text.

An excerpt:

How close does Jesus want us to come to Him? He wants us to come close enough so that the yoke is easy and the burden is light, so that our experience of the fruits of the Spirit is real in our life. And what are the three primary fruits of the Spirit that everybody wants: love and joy and peace. Sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that love and joy and peace is a consequence of a stress free life. Well, the only people that have a stress free life are probably pre-natal folks, and it’s only stress free because they don’t know any better.

Please go and read the whole thing. It was exactly what I needed to read today.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 5, 2010

And what's wrong with Pollyanna?!?

Next Post

August 6, 2010 Some Questions...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ADHD Blog Business Body and Soul Books Faith Faith in Action Family Feminism Fertility Awareness Friendship Geekiness Guest Post History Hope Just For Fun Love Marriage Memory Mental Exercise Movies Parenting Personalism Poetry Prayer Quotes Scripture Seven Quick Takes Striving for Holiness Television The Stories We Tell The World Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 March 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 December 2014 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 August 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 November 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jeremiah see in his first vision as a young prophet?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A scroll An almond branch A burning coal A lion

Support this
Column