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     The "yoke" was an image used by Jewish spirituality of Jesus' time to mean obedience to God's law as given in the law of Moses.  By the time Jesus began his ministry, the meticulous observance of that law was personified in the Pharisees, with whom Jesus developed an adversarial relationship.  In Matthew 23, Jesus details his reasons for opposing their attitudes and practices with a series of  "Woe to you, Pharisees..." statements in which he denounces the burdens that Pharisees created for ordinary people.  However, in today's passage, we are invited to take Jesus' "yoke" on our shoulders - a burden that is easy and light.

     If we are honest with ourselves and our beloved Church, we have to admit that sometimes we have made Jesus' "yoke" a lot heavier than this scripture would admit.  Pope Francis has been pointing out this problem from the very beginning of his pontificate, especially in his initial document, THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL, in which he likens the Church to a "field hospital for the sick and wounded."  This contrasts sharply with the perhaps unintended but nevertheless real image of the Church as a courtroom for condemnation!  We have sometimes allowed the practical necessity for organizational laws to become an end in itself.  This runs from the abundance of liturgical rubrics to diocesan governance to (and this is a tough one) legislation about the sacraments, especially matrimony and Eucharist.

     Jesus' words today should remind us of his invitation and challenge us to an examination of conscience on all levels.  Are we extending his invitation or have we added so much fine print that we are taking away with one hand what we are trying to extend with the other.  A fair reading of today's invitation along with Matthew 23 can serve as a platform for this.  AMEN