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St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church www.xavierbrunswick.org, 912-265-3249 July 5, 2020
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
www.xavierbrunswick.org, 912-265-3249
July 5, 2020
Take My Yoke Upon You
Matthew 11 is one of my favorite Gospels; “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.” My yoke is easy and my burden is light. A college student came to me once to ask the three existential questions: “Fr., I am so confused. Where did I come from? What is the meaning of life? Where am I going?” I said, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Did you have anymore questions?” Pope John Paul II said, “Jesus is the answer to which every human heart is the question.” St. Bonaventure wrote: “If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing; if you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything.” By taking on the yoke of Jesus, we can learn to become like Him. How do we do this? What does this mean?
I remember working on the tobacco farm as a boy. We always had tractors by the time I was born; I never had to plow a mule, the old fashioned way. But one year, we had a hurricane that dropped lots of rain; the fields were flooded; the crops were drowning and there was no way a tractor could stand up in the field. It was too heavy. So my dad hired a mule and a one row pull plow, to try to plow up between the rows to help the water evaporate. For the first time in my life, I plowed behind a mule. He had a leather yoke on the harness which fit over his head and on his shoulders perfectly and that mule pulled that plow through that wet dirt with me walking behind, trying to hold that plow straight. It was some of the hardest work I have ever done! That yoke was heavy and the mule was doing most of the work!
In Palestine in the time of Jesus, yokes were still made of wood; not leather, and they had to fit very exactly, or they would chafe the shoulders of the oxen. When Jesus says today, “My yoke is easy and my burden light,” the Greek word which is translated easy could also be translated “well fitting.” So in the time of Jesus, the ox was brought to the carpenter and measured very precisely. Then the yoke was roughed out of wood and the ox was brought again and measured again. It was carefully adjusted so that it would not gall the neck of the patient beast. It was tailor made to fit. His work was hard enough. At least the yoke should be well fitting and not chafe.
There is a lovely legend, that Jesus, who we know was a carpenter, made the best ox yokes in all of Galilee. People came to him from everywhere because his yokes fit so well and they would never chafe the ox. In those days, as now, shops would have a sign above their door, identifying the business. According to the legend, the sign about the carpentry shop of Jesus said, “My Yokes Fit Well.” (Is that legend true? We don’t know, but as my Church history professor always said, “If it ain’t true, it oughta be.”)
Our yokes, the trials and crosses we have, are tailor made for us. God orchestrates this; he knows what is best for us.
Pope Benedict said at World Youth Day: “The world offers you comfort. You were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness!” So when Jesus says, My yoke is easy; my yoke fits well, what He means is that the life he gives us is not a burden to gall us; our task is tailor made to fit us. He is trying to get us ready for Heaven; to love the way they love in heaven. But it can’t be easy; or it would not be great. Not a day goes by when I do not talk to at least one person who is crying; because of their pain; crosses they are trying to carry; the valley of tears; life can be hard.
St. Augustine wrote: “God made us for greatness but our hearts are too small for the purpose for which they were made; they must be stretched.” Only two things that will stretch a person’s heart; mental prayer and suffering. When good things happen, God is about the business of saving us; when bad things happen, …It is when we are suffering; struggling with sickness, or hardships or trials, that is when we are most yoked to Jesus…and that is when we can learn from him the most what we were sent here to learn.
Pope John Paul II wrtoe: “The only success recognized by God is Christ-likeness.” St. Paul wrtoe: “I live, no not I. It is Christ who lives within me.” By yoking ourselves to Jesus, carrying our crosses, He teaches us to be like Him; meek and humble of heart.
-Fr. Brett Brannen (Fr. Brett recently served as Pastor of Blessed Sacrament in Savannah and now moving to the Josephium Seminary to be the Spiritual Director)
The SFX Community extends their prayers and condolences to the families of Johnny Paulk and Rose Silva. May they rest in the peace of Christ.
Prayer for our Next Bishop
O God, eternal shepherd, Who govern your flock with unfailing
care, Grant us in your boundless fatherly love, The gift of a shep-
herd Who will please you with his holiness, Instruct your people
by his virtues, And imbue the minds of the faithful with the truth
of the Gospel. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forev-
er and ever. Amen.
Weekend Mass Schedule in July
Saturday:
5:00 pm at SFX
7:00 pm at Jekyll (JIUMC) possibly beginning July 11
Sunday:
No 7:00 am Sunday Mass
8:30 am
11:00 am
6:00 pm (Spanish)
Congratulations
Adam & Megan Tazi
on you June 27th nuptials.
Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if
only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does
not belong to him. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you. Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not
debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh,
you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
“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.”
Matthew 11: 25-30
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm: I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.
Mass Intentions - July 4 - 12
July 4th - t Roberto Tuya Ribot, Our Parish Family
July 5th - t Annette Dussault, t Jack Rea, Souls in Pugatory
July 6th - t Jan Mistisshen
July 7th - Special Intentions
July 8th- t Grace Fitzsimmons, t Souls in Purgatory
July 9th- t Ric Carr
July 10th - t Linda Forsyth
July 11th - t Dan & Rose Browning & Benjamin Parse
July 12th - t Annette Dussault, t Jack Hardman, t Cesar Zegarra
We have been livestreaming Evening Prayers/Rosary each day during the pandemic.
We will remove the EP/Rosary on Fri/Sat/Sun. Daily Mass Schedule: Mondays at Noon. Tuesday thru Friday at 8:00 a.m.
Wed. nights (beginning June 3) at 7:00 pm.
We will continue to livestream daily mass and the Sat. 5:00 pm vigil. Sun-
day livestream at 11:00 a.m.
CONFESSIONS
Confessions will take place Saturdays at 4:00 pm before the vigil mass. We
will add Wednesdays at 6:15 pm (beginning June 3) or by appointment during
the week.
PRAYING IN THE CHURCH The church is open each day from 8:00 a.m. til 6:00 p.m. Please park in front of the church or on Newcastle Street. FINANCIAL SUPPORT Many people have been so generous to ask about supporting SFX during our time of exile. Thank you! People may mail their offertory envelopes in or drop them in the mail slot at our 405 Howe St. Office. Many people have begun us-ing on-line giving through this link: https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/1871. Thanks for your support and be assured of our prayers for you and your fami-lies!
St. Francis Xavier Catholic School has openings for the following part-time positions: School Counselor
Art Teacher Music Teacher
Please forward a letter of interest and resume to:
Baby Bottles for Skylark Pregnancy Center are available on the
back tables. If you want, you can do an online contribution
instead of change. Paper bottles are also on the table with
directions on how to contribute. Physical bottles need to be
returned by July 19th.
St Vincent de Paul is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10-4.
The Food Pantry is re-opening. This is being done slowly and carefully to ensure safety for both our clients and our volunteers. The needs of our community have never been greater, and we thank you for your continued support and gen-erosity. If you can contribute, we will be most grateful. Prayers are always wel-come.
The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry has the following specific needs:
Vienna sausage and luncheon meats like Spam are always popular as well as pop-top cans or pouches of tuna fish and chicken along with micro-waveable pasta & meat items. Powdered milk and cereals like Cheerios, Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes are always welcomed by our clients with children. Grape jelly, Strawberry jelly/jam/or preserves in unbreakable containers are much appreciated. Please think in terms of regular-size items rather than large or super-size. Pop-top cans and microwaveable items meet the needs of those we serve who do not have kitchen facilities. BOGO’s are a great way to buy one for your family and one for our pantry. Basic personal hygiene items for men and women are always needed.
St. Francis Xavier Staff email addresses
Fr. Tim: [email protected]
Fr. Chris: [email protected]
Ann: [email protected]
Deacon Larry: [email protected]
Marisol: [email protected]
Juan: [email protected]
Maggie: [email protected]
Dr. Mermann: [email protected]
