Read or listen to this Sunday’s Mass readings here.

• Zechariah 9:9-10
• Romans 8:9, 11-13
• Matthew 11:25-30

This beautiful Sunday morning found the Pauline family busy getting ready for the day.  The older kids were upstairs getting dressed, Baby Ben was playing with the dog, and Mom and Hillary were getting breakfast together.

Even though Hillary was only 4, Mom was teaching her how to crack eggs for scrambling.  Sometimes the yolks stayed intact, but most of the time they didn’t.

“You’ll get the hang of it, Sweetie,” her Mom reassured her.  Hillary could only keep practicing.

Right after breakfast dishes were put away, Dad called everyone together for the Gospel reading they would hear this Sunday at Mass.  Everyone “scrambled” into the living room—even Baby Ben and Saint, the dog.  The big Saint Bernard dog was carrying Ben’s toy jet in his huge jowls, to the distress of Ben.

“Okay, Saint, hand it over,” Dad instructed the dog.  After Dad wiped off the wetness, he set the airplane aside and began.

Dad read aloud the Gospel passage from Matthew.  Jesus declares His divinity to His followers: “ ‘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.’ ”  (Matthew 11:27)

When Dad finished, he looked over at Hillary.  She had quite a puzzled look on her face!

“What is it, Honey?” Dad asked his 4-year-old daughter.

“I don’t get the ‘eggy’ part, Daddy!” she said.  “It’s at the end!”

Dad had to look at the passage again.  What part was she thinking of?

“Okay, Hillary,“ Dad reasoned.  “Let me begin reading the end part, and when I come to the words you don’t understand, then you stop me, okay?”

Hillary nodded.

Then Dad began re-reading the ending.  “ ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.’ ”  (Matthew 11:28)

He looked at Hillary and knew that wasn’t it.

“ ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of  heart.’ ”  (Matthew 11:29a)

“That’s it!”  Hillary shouted.  “The ‘eggy’ part!”

Dad stopped and had to bite the inside of his lips in laughter.  How could anyone be as cute as Hillary!

“Honey!” he said, moving down to Hillary’s level.  “The ‘yoke’ that Jesus is talking about isn’t an egg yolk!  In this case, a yoke is a real heavy harness that work animals wear!”

Vincent was laughing now, too.

“That’s right, Hillary,” he told his little sister.  “We’re not talking about scrambled eggs here!  I saw one of those animal yokes at the State Fair once.  If I was to put it around my neck, it would crush me!”

“And that is exactly what Jesus is telling us,” Mom added.  “Jesus wants to lift off the things that crush and weigh us down.”

“Then what happens to the heavy stuff?”  Lucy wondered.

“Well, Lucy,” Dad answered, “Jesus puts the heavy stuff on His own shoulders!”

“Huh?”  Lucy asked.  “Then Jesus would get all heavy and weighted down, wouldn’t He?”

Dad answered, but was scratching his head.  “This is kind of hard to explain.  Jesus adds weight on Himself … but it’s still attached to us … but it’s better … “

Just then something caught Dad’s eye.

“Okay Gang,” Dad said, reaching for Baby Ben’s put-together airplane.

Dad stood in the middle of the room.

He began.  “Now if I wanted to fly this airplane, you would think the lighter the better, right?”

The kids all nodded.

To Ben’s dismay, Dad pulled off the detachable wings.

“So if I took the wings off the plane, it would be lighter … ”

“But, Dad, now it can’t fly!”  Vincent stated.

“That’s right, Vincent!”  Dad continued.  “In this case, a lack of wings would keep it from soaring.  The wings actually make it airborne.”

Mom went on.  “Jesus takes all the weight of our burdens and sorrows.  He handles all our problems and gives us different wings.  The Lord takes our ‘heavy wings’ and gives us wings to fly!”

“That’s right!” Dad said.  “The burdens and sorrows are still there, we all have them.  But how we are weighted down by them is different.  Jesus lifts us now!”

Dad reassembled Ben’s plane and handed it over to his son.

Vincent was laughing.  “Who would have thought that a toy plane and breakfast would become part of the Gospel reading this morning!”

And as Ben zoomed his plane in circles, the family left for Mass!

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