This could probably be the shortest command that Jesus made in his entire life. Yet, with this command, Peter was able to walk on water when he obeyed his Lord. This is also part of his other command:

Come to me you who labour and are burdened and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

The past few days, I have been using the Duoay-Rheims version of the Bible and an ordinary dictionary to help me in my prayers and believe me, these two tools really help a lot. I have seen that the Lord constantly calls us to come to him - to approach him so that he can refresh us. Indeed, when we come to the Lord, our problems might not be solved, but the important thing is that he is faithful and he will refresh us. Following the Lord does not mean that we will not have problems. Following the Lord means that he is always with us and he will provide us of whatever we need at the right time.

When we approach the Lord, he also challenges us to take his yoke. The yoke can mean two things. It is the wooden frame used by two oxen to work together. It is also a wooden arch that is laid on the neck of a defeated person. When we come to Jesus, he assures us that he will work with us. It can also mean that we surrender ourselves to him.

One more thing that stands out from this verse is a change in one of the words. Other versions say, "Take up my yoke upon you and learn from me". The Douay-Rheims version has it as "learn of me". This got me to think, what does this really mean - to learn of the Lord.

This could be some semantics in the language but the two do not mean the same thing. To learn from Jesus is to have him teach us. To learn of Jesus is to know him personally. So to come to Jesus is to work with him, to subject ourselves to him AND to get to know him more.

The key to holiness is NOT only to do his work. It is not to subject ourselves to him. It is to know him. Without knowing Jesus, we cannot discern his will. We will be guessing his will and will not be able to work with him or submit ourselves to him.

Where can we know him? First is the obvious - through the Word of God. Jesus is God's word and therefore, reading the Word is reading Jesus.

The second is through the Blessed Sacrament. Catholics believe that Jesus IS present in the Blessed Sacrament. When we receive the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we receive his body and blood, his soul and divinity in the form of bread. Aside from receiving him physically, we can receive him spiritually - communing with him - either before the exposed Blessed Sacrament or in the tabernacle or at home.

Our goal in life is to love the Lord with all our soul, all our heart and with all our strength. We cannot say we do this IF we do not have a love for the Lord in these tangible forms - Word and Eucharist. I heard a priest once say, "Jesus does not need good men. He needs disciples."

The only way to holiness is to be a disciple of Jesus. The only way to be a disciple is to know him personally. The only way to know him is through immersing ourselves in prayer before the Word and before his true Body and Blood.

May the Lord open our hearts so that we can respond to his call to come to him.