Sunday 9th July 2023 - The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zechariah 9:9-10/ Psalm 144(145)/ Romans 8:9,11-13/ Matthew 11:25-30

When we face injustice and tyranny we look for strong leadership to face up to it. The Jewish community from which Jesus emerged where under the occupation of the Romans. They were subject to their own King and leadership. We see from scripture that their leadership appeared strong and ruled by imposition of rules and regulations. The consequences to transgressions could be harsh and cruel.

The leadership that Jesus showed was entirely different to what might be expected from an all-powerful God who had spoken all of creation into being. Although victorious and triumphant Jesus is a king who is humble and comes to us riding on a donkey. The first reading foretells how the Saviour would appear but the leaders of the day failed to see that Jesus was the long promised messiah.

The Psalm, so familiar to the Jews, speaks of a kind and compassionate God who is slow to anger and abounding in love, supporting those who fall or are bowed down. In his ministry Jesus showed that he was God who became human. He was victorious and triumphant, entering Jerusalem to loud acclaim riding on a donkey. Through his miracles Jesus displayed his command over the natural world that had been created through him. Ultimately, he showed his power over sin and death through his crucifixion and resurrection.

God chose to enter his own creation as one of us but not as a great powerful figure in society. Jesus chose the womb of a young humble woman betrothed to a hard-working tradesman from a small unassuming village. From a humble birth and background Jesus was brought up firstly in poverty and exile and then lived a simple quiet family life. When he began his ministry Jesus remained humble of heart and chose to bring his message first to the poor and humble people of his day. Although maintaining a simple lifestyle Jesus gradually revealed his divinity through his miracles and teaching. This was firstly to his close followers especially the twelve Apostles who he was training to be the foundation stones of his church on earth. We see this most strongly in the miracles Jesus performed, his claims to be God by forgiving sins and when he gave a glimpse of his glory to Peter, James and John in the transfiguration and ultimately to all of us by his resurrection.

In the Gospel passage for today we find Jesus giving thanks to God for revealing the truth firstly to the simple everyday people he describes as mere children, rather than the learned and clever. We might find ourselves overcomplicating things when it comes to our relationship with God. We can be tempted to model God in our image and likeness when in truth we are created by God in his image and likeness. The search for understanding about God and the development of our relationship to him can be overwhelming. The church has a rich history of great thinkers who have pondered these things over centuries and many millions of words have been written in attempts to help us.

One of these great thinkers was the influential philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. He was an Italian Dominican friar and priest living in the mid 1200’s and wrote many great works including the Summa Theologiae which is still used today as an instructional guide for the formation of priests and religious. Thomas covered all aspects of church teaching and the nature of God. While deeply immersed in his work Thomas had a sudden revelation that affected him so profoundly that he wrote nothing more. In a remarkable explanation Thomas confided to his friends that the end of his work had been reached and all that he had written throughout his life seemed to him to be like straw after the things that have been revealed to him.

We need great thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas to help us on our way but our personal relationship with God comes from within us and is on a simple and personal level. We cannot hope, in this life, to understand the greatness of God but because God became human in the person of Jesus we have a real flesh and blood human to relate to. Through prayer we can develop a personal relationship with God because in Jesus our God is very close to us. We need to be like little children in his presence. Being learned and clever can lead us to become too self-reliant falling into the temptation of thinking we know better than God and judging everything we see from the limitations of the physical world that we are, for the time being, trapped within.

Jesus invites us, laboured and overburdened as we feel, to come to him and he will give us rest. His yoke is easy and his burden light we are told. If we feel that the yoke and burden we carry is heavy and burdensome then we might be overthinking things. Approaching God as little children, in a simple and uncomplicated way will lead us to appreciate that the yolk and burden of faith is indeed easy and light. Strive to build a simple relationship with God so that Jesus becomes a close friend and confidante who is always at our side.

God Bless Brendan.