Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 17 (16):15 As for me, in justice I shall behold your face; I shall be filled with the vision of your glory.

Collect O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honour. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19; Psalm 101; Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said, 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. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Light and Rest I remember speaking to a well educated retired journalist who had studied at tertiary level. He was not especially religious but respected the Catholic religion. I was interested to hear his impressions of philosophy. He more or less thought that much of philosophy, when pursued by persons without revealed religion, was often bizarre. I am afraid that he was right. Major philosophers — major in their influence on thought — have held intellectual and published positions which the ordinary person would think simply lack common sense. George Berkeley (1685 – 1753), Anglican Bishop of Cloyne, was a good man who, together with his contemporary fellow philosopher Bishop Butler, is honoured with a feast day in the liturgical Calendar of the U.S. Episcopal Church. He maintained that individuals cannot think or talk about an object's being, but rather think or talk about an object's being perceived by someone. That is, individuals cannot know any "real" object or matter "behind" the object as they perceive it, which "causes" their perceptions. He thus concluded that all that individuals know about an object is their perception of it. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called Berkeley the father of idealism. In reference to Berkeley's philosophy, his much younger contemporary Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709 — 1784) kicked a heavy stone and exclaimed, "I refute it thus!" That is to say, we know that we can know things as they are in themselves, something Bishop Butler would never have dreamt of questioning. I mention this as an example of the bedlam of voices filling the halls of learning throughout history, all claiming to offer light to mankind. When one reads in the field of the history of philosophy it becomes abundantly clear that man needs a Light. We need a Light because there is a great deal of error, and this error cannot bring rest to weary man. It is truth that his mind yearns for, and he knows that it is the truth which will bring him the rest he desires. But, as Pilate said to Christ, what is the truth — and, we may add, where is it to be found?

Jesus Christ said that he is the Light of the world. Anyone who walks by his light will indeed be living in the light, whereas the one who does not will be in the darkness. Nearly a century after the death of Berkeley there was born in the small town of Röcken, near Leipzig, in the Prussian Province of Saxony, one who would have significant influence on the thought of the twentieth century. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 – 1900), whose influence has been within and beyond philosophy, radically questioned the value and objectivity of truth, and one of his key ideas was the death of God. He finally went insane some eleven years before his death. Nietzsche’s thought, which has been quite influential, led himself and others into darkness, and is a prime instance of the need for the Light of Jesus Christ. Even if we turn to the best philosophers of the past, ones who left a wonderful legacy of thought, the need for a divine light is evident. With good reason Aristotle was called “The Philosopher” by St Thomas Aquinas. He became a principal resource for Aquinas in providing a philosophical perspective in approaching revealed truth. But still, Aristotle’s notion of God is a signal instance of man’s need for light from God. Further, without the light of truth, how can man find peace? This “rest” is exactly what our Lord offers as the Light of the world. “Jesus said, 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” (Matthew 11:28-30). Man yearns for rest, and Christ promises it. He says to weary and burdened man — such as Friedrich Nietzsche and those tempted to embrace thought such as his — that if you come to me and take on the yoke of my teaching and follow in my footsteps, you will find rest. Modern man, so burdened with the problem of evil and suffering, ought hear our Lord, come to him, consider giving him a real try, and then, asking the grace of God, take the plunge of faith.

How beautiful is the life of one who from earliest years has taken his stand with Jesus Christ, and through all the difficulties of life has followed his light. He has learned from him. His teaching is the foundation of his life and endeavours, and whatever discipline he has pursued in life has always been approached with the mind of Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, St Paul wrote. It is the key to the world’s problems, and the pathway to glory.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Matthew 11:28-30)

The Yoke of Christ Many great minds have commented on the scale of evil and human trouble there is in the world. Cardinal Newman in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua (the history of his religious opinions, 1864) said that were it not for the testimony to God coming from his conscience and certain other sources, the fact of so much evil in the world would lead him into atheism. A statement like this coming from such a one (raised to the Church’s altars), ought lead us to sympathise with those labouring under the problem of evil. Our Lord states that the answer to the burden of life and reality is to come to Him. "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28-30). Our Lord addresses this invitation to all who are overburdened, not just to some of his disciples. He promises to give them rest if they "shoulder my yoke and learn from me". So shouldering his yoke — taking up the burden arising from being his disciple — will lead to rest and happiness. The cross of Christ is the path to joy and glory.

This is the path for each of us to travel in an evil and suffering-laden world. The path is one of being in Christ. It is the path to announce to others, especially those who because of evil, are tempted to reject God.

(E.J.Tyler)

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