This Lectio,
Vena,
Will have us contemplating on Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 30,
Which contain Jesus' famous words,
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
To fully grasp the context of what this passage is saying,
We need to understand that a yoke was a Rabbi's teaching,
It was the name given to his way of being,
His way of doing and understanding the world.
Jesus is saying to those who are listening to him here,
Let go of all the things that you've tried to put into operation to make sense of the world and make your way in the world and simply take on my way of living because when you really look into it,
My way of living is easy and there's not much weight to carry when you put it into action.
It's certainly a very different message to the one that I think we're used to hearing within Christianity.
And so I invite you to simply sit,
To find a comfortable place,
To breathe deeply.
And as you hear the passage recited about four times over the course of the reflection,
Just take the time to let the words of Jesus speak deeply to your soul.
What is it that God wants you to grasp from this passage in this particular sitting?
How can you let that message absorb deeply into your spirit and then how can you allow it to live out of you as you rise from this time of contemplation,
Meditation and prayer and go out into the world?
May God be with you as you sit in the words of Christ.
So we pray,
Open our ears to hear what it is that you have to say to us through the words of scripture today.
Open our minds to think carefully about what they might mean for us,
About how we might live these words.
And open our hearts to receive these words like seed planted in good fertile soil,
That they might bloom and blossom and grow and bear good fruit that will last,
So that your kingdom God may come on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen.
Come to me,
All you who are weary and burdened,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Come to me,
All you who are weary and burdened,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Come to me,
All you who are weary and burdened,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Come to me,
All you who are weary and burdened,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
As we rise from this time of prayer,
We give thanks for this moment,
Reading the scriptures,
Meditating,
Praying and contemplating on their meaning and the change and transformation that can be done in our lives through these words.
As we go from this place today,
May we go,
Seeing the world with fresh eyes,
Knowing that love lives in us and allowing that love to throw through us to the world in which we live.
Amen.
