Today's readings speak much of peace and consolation. The First Reading from the prophet Zechariah speaks of a king entering Jerusalem riding on a young donkey. The scene is one of humility but also of peace. He rides on a placid donkey rather than on a prancing warhorse. Our king is a king of peace not just in the sense of an external absence of violence but of a deep, inner peace, shalom. And Jesus says today, "Shoulder my yoke... and you will find rest... Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden is light." A yoke we think of as a heavy and very burdensome, even painful, piece of wood laid on the shoulders of an ox. But, because of the yoke, the ox can pull the weight of the cart behind it more easily. It is a burden which is also a help. The words of Jesus often seem, at first sight, to be very burdensome. Yet, once understood, we know that there can be no other way of living in true freedom and peace than the Way of Jesus. There is still another way of understanding the image of the yoke. Think of it as a double yoke, where two oxen can work together better. We now have a lovely image of Jesus and I yoked together, pulling together. "Shoulder my yoke" then becomes "Share my yoke". Where I go, he goes along with me, pulling together with me and making it all the easier.