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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Zechariah 9:9-10 II: Romans 8:9,11-13

Gospel
Matthew 11:25-30

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes;
²⁶ yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.
²⁷ All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Interesting Details

In the midst of a section largely devoted to the rejection of Jesus and his message (Mt 11-13), this passage contains three revelations:
- praise and thanksgiving to God for having revealed to the infants (vv.25-26),
- a declaration about Jesus' special relationship to the Father (v.27), and
- an invitation to share Jesus' wisdom teaching (vv.28-30).
(v.25) "The wise and understanding" refers to scribes and Pharisees who reject Jesus. In most Jewish writings of the time the recipients of divine revelations are wise and understanding. What God has hidden from them is the significance of Jesus' mighty deeds and the presence of God's kingdom in his ministry.
(v.25) "The infants" refers to the disciples, simple and uneducated, who hear Jesus and perceive his significance despite their lack of social standing and expertise in religious matters.
(v.27) Jesus asserts that God has granted him the revelation of himself as completely as a father discloses himself to a son. The revelation between God and Jesus is so close that the only adequate terms for it are Father and Son. Therefore, only Jesus can pass on to others the real knowledge and wisdom of God.
(vv.28-30) Jesus expresses his invitation to discipleship in terms used in Sir 51:23-27. Using the traditional image of the law as a "yoke," Jesus, the authoritative interpreter of the law, promises refreshment and rest in his wisdom school. The burden is the Pharisees' approach to wisdom, the light burden is Jesus' teaching.

One Main Point

Acceptance of Jesus' message depends upon the Father's revelation, but this is granted to those who are open to receive, and refused to the arrogant.

Reflections

Do I always act solely based on my knowledge, or do I let my heart direct me in a meek and humble way? What type of person am I?
What makes the relationship between the Father and the Son Jesus so close? How close is my relationship with God? How can I improve this relationship?
Jesus' law and teaching is easy and light "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." What are the heavy burdens I am carrying? My job, my study, my family, my finance, my ambition...? Are they necessary? How can I make them lighter? How can He make them lighter?

'Priests who fall into sin lose light, and lose also the fear of God. Behold, the Lord himself assures us of this. If I be a master, where is My fear, saith the Lord of Hosts, to you, O Priests, that despise My name? St. Bernard says that priests falling from on high remain so immersed in their malice, that they forget God, and disregard the divine threats to such a degree that the danger of their damnation has no longer any terror for them. . .

What chastisement does not the priest deserve who, instead of carrying with him to the altar flames of divine charity, brings the fetid fire of unchaste love! Speaking of the punishment inflicted on the sons of Aaron for having offered strange fire, St. Peter Damian says: "Let us take care not to mingle unholy fire, that is, the flames of lust with the salutary sacrifices."! Whosoever, adds the saint, shall dare to carry the flame of lust to the altar, shall certainly be consumed by the fire of God's vengeance. . .

Oh! what an impious treason. Behold how Jesus Christ complains, by the mouth of David, of the sacrilegious priest: For if My enemy had reviled Me would verily have borne with it, . . . but thou, a man of one mind, and My familiar, who didst take sweetmeats together with Me? Behold an exact description of a priest who offers Mass in the state of sin. If my enemy, said the Lord, had insulted me, I would have borne the offence with less pain; but you whom I have made my familiar, my minister, a prince among my people, to whom I have so often given my flesh for food you have sold me to the devil for the indulgence of passion, for a beastly gratification, for a little earth. Of this sacrilegious treason the Lord complained to St. Bridget: "Such priests," he said, "are not my priests, but real traitors; for, like Judas, they sell and betray me." St. Bernardine of Sienna teaches that such priests are even worse than Judas; because Judas betrayed the Saviour to the Jews, but they deliver him up to devils by receiving him into their sacrilegious breasts, which are ruled by devils.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori