HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

Jul 6, 2014

2894

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah (9:9-10)

Thus says the Lord: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.

He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior's bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14)

(R) I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.

I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. (R)

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R)

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R)

The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (8:9, 11-13)

Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (11:25-30)

At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 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."

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A conversation between a girl and her boyfriend goes like this. She tells her boyfriend, "When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden." The boyfriend says to her, "It is very kind of you, darling. But I don't have any worries or troubles." The girl replies, "Well that's because we aren't married yet."

Friends, worries and troubles just do not arise only after marriage. At one time or another we all experience anxieties, worries, disappointments, discouragements and hardships. Some of us perhaps have too much on our plate - feel overwhelmed, exhausted, desperate and hopeless. Some seek God, and some others tend to look to their friends for answers. To all those who are driven to weariness and despair Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves, for my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Does Jesus give us rest that we cannot find anywhere? How can we get the rest that Jesus promises us? We shall first study the context proper - What Jesus says before and after his promise is as important as the promise itself. Friends, as a matter of fact, let us remember that the context is absolutely critical for properly interpreting and understanding any biblical verse. We should avoid taking verses out of context. For instance let us pick the verse "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest". This verse is just so comforting by itself. However, we must look at it in full context to learn the whole counsel of God. Let us return to today's gospel.

Jesus begins with wonderful revelations of His glory. (1) He says that everything has been handed over to Him by His Father. All things in the whole universe, i.e., the authority and the power over everything and everyone in the universe have been given to him. (2) He says that only He knows God, the Father. And only God the Father knows Him, the Son. These are incredible claims. No one, before or after Jesus has ever claimed to have the power over the whole of creation. So it is impossible for everyone to believe in his claims. The only way this can become a reality is that God has to reveal Himself to humanity, and that too is done through His Son Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus says, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones." This means that the only way someone can come to true conviction of Jesus' claims is that God has to reveal Himself directly to the person. And the only way to know God is through His Son Jesus Christ. Every believer, therefore, must be convinced of Jesus' authority over all things and his equality with God before being able to believe in the promise of Jesus.

Jesus promises rest only to those who truly believes that He is God and that He has power over all things including their life. He makes the promise and, then lays down very important demands or conditions for the person who wants to enjoy the promise. What are the conditions? He puts three conditions which can be summarized in the following words: Come to Me. Take My yoke. Learn from Me.

"Come to me, all who labor and are burdened", refers to the burden and toil that the Book of Genesis (3:17, 19) speaks about. God says to Adam after his sin of disobedience, "Cursed be the soil because of you. In suffering you will provide food for yourself from it, all the days of your life... With the sweat on your face you will eat your bread, until you return to clay." Yes. God's judgment on Adam reminds us that at some point everyone's life is filled with pain and sorrow because of sin. However, God with compassion and great love for mankind sends His only Son to give rest to humanity. Yes! Jesus says to those who are dissatisfied with life but who humbly recognize their sinfulness and, seek rest for their body, mind and soul, to come to Him and find rest in Him.

Then Jesus says, "Take my yoke". Jesus uses the word "Take" several times. One of the times while speaking to his disciples he says, "If you will be a follower of mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day; and follow me.", Luke (9:23). So Jesus' call to his followers "to take my yoke upon you" is equivalent to taking up the cross. What is a yoke? A yoke is an instrument used to hook two animals together to pull a plough or cart. The word "yoke" is used many times in the Old Testament but is rarely used in its literal sense. Mostly the word is used in a figurative sense to describe the condition of someone who is under the authority of someone else. In some places the word "yoke" is also used in relation to sin. So a person is either under God's yoke, or under the yoke of sin. Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans (6:15-23) tells us that we are either slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin. For Christians therefore "taking on the yoke" means three things. It means:

Jesus is King and they are his subjects. They accept his authority and power over their life.
It is a call to the absolute surrender of their whole being. They will love Jesus with all their heart, all their soul and all their strength.
From the time of baptism, they live for Jesus and serve Jesus.

Then Jesus says, "Learn from me". A Christian is a disciple who learns from His Master, the Lord Jesus. And what can we learn? We can learn meekness and humility from Jesus. He says, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." Meekness and humility are often construed as weakness, fear or lack of courage. Biblically "meekness" is that attitude of mind that shows itself in gentleness and tenderness in dealing with others. "Humility" is an attitude toward God and others. It means to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord - to understand that we have constant need for His support.

What is the message for us? Friends, Christian life is more than just attending Holy Mass or participating in formal prayers or making devotions or agreeing with the teachings of the church. All these are certainly good and beneficial to our Christian faith but our Lord Jesus demands much more than that. He wants us to truly recognize His authority and power as our God; humbly acknowledge our sinfulness and gratefully realize our need for a Savior. He promises us that when we accept him on His conditions - come to him, take his yoke and learn from him - then we will certainly find rest for our body, mind and soul and not just for today but for all eternity.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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