(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: https://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Mass-Blog-for-the-Solemnity-of-the-Most-Holy-Trinity-2026.mp3)
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.” (Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9)
Stiff-necked is used at least a dozen times in the Old Testament to describe “The Chosen People.” It’s used only once in the New, and it resulted in a death sentence for Steven, one of the people chosen to carry on Christ’s mission of growing God’s Kingdom on earth. He was criticizing the continuing tradition of chosen people stubbornly rejecting the prophets God sent to guide them—even God’s Son in flesh and spirit.
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.” (Acts 7:51-53)
His listeners blocked their ears but couldn’t silence the truth that they were as stiff-necked and stubborn as the most immovable ox, refusing to be guided by God’s yoke. In this case the yoke was God’s law of love that they were expected to apply in word and deed.
Paul, who as Saul was the most stiff-necked of God’s chosen people, approved of and witnessed Steven’s murder. But reborn as Paul, he would embrace God’s yoke and tell his fellow oxen:
“Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)
Paul’s advice softened the stiff necks of generations of beasts burdened by the yoke of their own misguided ways. His words have inspired us stubborn oxen to throw off the yoke of sin and replace it with one they could happily wear everywhere—even to football games. They’d write down on poster board the instructions for joining them in courageously accepting this harness so fellow fans and national television audiences could help each other wear and bear it:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. (John 3:16-18)
Through the gospels, God continues to answer Moses’ prayer to “come along in our company.” And, we might add, please God, maintain ownership of this vast team of oxen struggling to plow a straight path to Your Kingdom.
–Tom Andel
We, God’s people, have always struggled with being “stiff-necked” — resisting God’s guidance while still seeking His blessings. Yet Christ’s yoke is not slavery, but an invitation to loving obedience. His law is not mere ritual or words, but love lived in speech and action.
This “law of love” lies at the heart of Christian discipleship. Faithful Catholics understand it not as sentiment, but as sacrificial charity: forgiving, serving, speaking truth, defending human dignity, and remaining faithful even when difficult. Left to ourselves, we wander a crooked path under the burden of pride and sin; but in accepting Christ’s yoke, we finally learn to walk a straighter path.
Tom, your reflection fits beautifully with Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is a communion of perfect love: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit drawing us into divine life. To accept Christ’s yoke is to share in that life — the Father calling and forgiving, the Son redeeming and guiding, and the Holy Spirit softening hardened hearts so we may live God’s law of love faithfully.
George, a softer heart is more comfortable for the Holy Spirit to live in. A hardened heart is a spiritual burden.
A “new form of atheism, which can be found in our pews, is that there is a God and He thinks just like me.” – Dr. Ray
How true this is. If we don’t submit ourselves, as we are called to do by Christ (and thus the church) to the church that Christ founded, it is so easy to get spun around and confused. The world would quickly have even the best intended humans believe that they are in control and know better. Look to how satan tried to tempt even Jesus, and using scripture to twist it!
You don’t need to get on the same page as me. I don’t need to get on the same page as you. We need to get on the same page as God. That is where our souls are safest and we can find peace.
Mike, you make a great point. The Nazis thought God was on their side. That made some of the worst evil in human history possible. The yoke they offered was more like the stocks torturers used to get people to say what they wanted.
Steven had the nerve to call out his persecutors and it cost him his life. Undoubtedly, he was given the gift of fortitude to stand up to those “stiff necked” religious leaders and pay the ultimate cost.
No matter. He gained the crown of martyrdom as the first person to offer his life for our Lord.
Saint Steven, pray for us!
Any crown can be made of thorns if a crown is the goal. Martyrs don’t see death, only their mission of mercy. To paraphrase Jesus, those who love their lives will lose them, but losing your life for his sake is life itself. Losing it by the world’s standards can mean using it by God’s.