I AM WHO AM. I WILL LIBERATE YOU

FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 July 15, Thursday 

I AM WHO AM. I WILL LIBERATE YOU

Introduction

      We pay special attention today to the first reading, in which God reveals his name to Moses. God is he who is, he who is beyond any name, but who will also be known by what he does for his people, the God who told Moses: “I will lead my people out of their misery to a land flowing with milk and honey.” He is the liberating God, whose yoke is a burden of love. God is still this God for us today: totally other, and yet nearer to the human heart than anyone else can be, because he gave us our human liberty, respects it and loves us.

      The gospel assures us that Jesus is with us and that we can go to him with our burdens and questions. The weak and the poor are open to the love of Jesus, for they are aware that they are fragile and vulnerable. He will give them rest and make them aware that what Jesus asks of them is a light burden, for it is carried in love. They will find rest in him.

Opening Prayer

Unknowable God,
you are the God whom we know
by what you do for us.
God, give us eyes and hearts to see
how much you care for us, your people.
Be with us, live in us,
that we may live for you and one another
with the same respectful love
with which you have set us free
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading 1: Ex 3:13-20

Moses, hearing the voice of the LORD from the burning bush, said to him,
"When I go to the children of Israel and say to them,
'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,'
if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"
God replied, "I am who am."
Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel:
I AM sent me to you."

God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the children of Israel:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.

"This is my name forever;
this my title for all generations.

"Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and tell them:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
has appeared to me and said:
I am concerned about you
and about the way you are being treated in Egypt;
so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt
into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Thus they will heed your message.
Then you and the elders of Israel
shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him:
"The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word.
Permit us, then, to go a three-days' journey in the desert,
that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God.

"Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go
unless he is forced.
I will stretch out my hand, therefore,
and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there.
After that he will send you away."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 105:1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

(8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He greatly increased his people
and made them stronger than their foes,
Whose hearts he changed, so that they hated his people,
and dealt deceitfully with his servants.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He sent Moses his servant;
Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They wrought his signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia: Mt 11:28

Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Mt 11:28-30

Jesus said:
"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 yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Intercessions

–   For baptized Christians, liberated by Christ, that they may not become enslaved again to evil, we pray:

–   For our Christian communities, that we may be men and women free enough of selfishness to serve one another’s needs, we pray:

–   For all of us, that we can forget ourselves for the sake of loving and helping one another, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Liberating God,
you let your Son become one of us
to set us free from our self-made burdens
and to take up with us the yoke of love.
He comes among us today
in the signs of this bread and wine.
Let him lead us to a land
flowing with milk and honey,
of love freely given and freely received,
that one day we may settle for ever
in the promised land of heaven.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Infinite and independent God,
you let your Son become one of us
to make us autonomous and free
as you are free
because we are your image.
Continue in us, your people, your sacred history
of freedom in responsibility.
Make us free to serve you,
free and available to anyone in need,
free for justice, human dignity and love
in Jesus, your Son and our Lord for ever.

Blessing

“I will be with you,” said God to Moses. “I will be with you,” says God to us too. Our living and loving God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Commentary

The Yoke of Jesus

Jesus addresses those “who labour and are burdened” and promises rest. Indeed, He places Himself among them, because He carries the burden of the Cross. And in Chapter 16 we would also read, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me” (Mt.16:24). The Cross of Jesus needs to be understood as his love for the humanity. He accepted the Cross not as a punishment, rather as the ultimate expression of love.

The evangelist Matthew cleverly presents a distinction between the yoke of Jesus and the yoke of the Law. A yoke is a heavy, and panful piece of wood laid on the shoulders of an ox to pull the weight of the cart and to keep the ox on track, preventing it from straying away. The rabbis present the Law of Mosses as a yoke which helped the Israel from straying away from Yahweh. But as centuries have passed, the Law became an instrument for the priests, scribes and pharisees to oppress the ordinary people. Thus the Law became a burden. Through the words of Jesus, Matthew is addressing his fellow-Jews who are crushed under the heavy burdens of the yoke of the Mosaic Law.

Under them, it was next to impossible not to put a foot wrong somewhere. The law demanded scrupulous observation of the tiniest obligation. It is to these people that Jesus offers a lighter yoke. William Barclay suggests that it was quite common to have double yokes when two animals pulled a vehicle together. Jesus is offering to share his yoke with us. He and I will pull together and he will share the burden with me.

Jesus does not say that if we go to him that we will have no more troubles, no more pain, no more disappointments… There will be "yokes" to carry but Jesus offers to carry them with us. When children are so protected by doting parents that their every whim is answered and every negative feeling anticipated, what do we end up with? Spoiled brats. Jesus will not spoil us in that way. The challenges of life are necessary for us to grow and mature. But they are easier to bear when he carries them with us, when we know that we are never alone in our difficulties and sorrows.

To follow Jesus is not to carry a great weight but to experience a great sense of liberation. If we have not found that experience yet then we are not yet carrying the yoke of Jesus.