Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 ZEC 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.
Responsorial Psalm PS 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2 ROM 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.
Alleluia CF. MT 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 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.”
Homily for KDTH Radio Mass on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 7/5/2020
Since we have been back at public Mass at Nativity, people have been wearing masks, well not everyone, but a bunch of people do, and it has kind of bothered me.
I mean, the CDC says it is a good precaution to take, but something about it has just bothered me, even though I know it shouldn’t, so I have been trying to figure out what my problem was.
When reading these readings, I finally figured out what it is about it that bothers me so much… it’s the lack of smiles… I have a much harder time detecting people’s joy when they are wearing masks because I can’t see them smile.
At Mass, I wear a mask only when I am distributing communion since I am so far away from the congregation, but even that bothers me, and it isn’t because it is uncomfortable or that I can’t breathe quite as well, it’s because I can’t smile at people.
I mean, I’m not always up there smiling, but just in some instances I want to smile at someone, usually a little kid who looks nervous or something, but the mask hides that… maybe they can tell that my “Bohemian eyes are smiling” but I don’t know, I’d rather have the mask off to leave no doubt.
Smiles, to me, show joy. The first reading started by saying, “Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!”
Disciples, really anyone who knows they are loved, loved by a person or loved by God, demonstrate joy. In my opinion, joy is outwardly often demonstrated through facial expressions, obviously challenging with a mask, and more challenging at a distance.
When we look at today's Gospel, we hear of Jesus giving praise to God the Father for revealing the things of God to the little ones.
You may remember what I said last week, my revelation about the phrase “little ones,” that “little ones” aren’t necessarily meant to mean children, it is more meant to mean disciples.
Jesus was calling His apostles and disciples “little ones,” because they trusted in God like a child trusts in a parent. He was also calling them “little ones,” because they had made themselves little in the eyes of the world, not seeking power, pleasure and prestige, rather humbly seeking the Kingdom of God.
And we see that from Jesus too. He calls himself meek and humble of heart. The prophecy of Zechariah in the first reading calls the savior king meek also.
Think of the kings, the rulers of this world… Does meek come to mind for any of them? Humble of heart probably doesn’t come to mind either.
But our savior king is different, his goal is different, his mission is different, it is one of salvation. It is a mission of repentance and redemption which helps us to know we are loved by Jesus.
When we know we are truly loved, that God has saved us through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, it is then that we trust Him to be there for us in the future, and we have joy in our relationship with Him.
Furthermore, we will even be willing to yoke ourselves to Him. For those of you who aren’t farmers, a yoke was used for two oxen to pull a plow through a field, together. The oxen had to work together, to stay together.
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.”
Jesus said, “take my yoke upon you” - so as disciples we are joining up to him, taking his yoke to do His work, and He promises to teach us and give us rest.
In my life, I remember when I was working in Des Moines, I had a great life, a really good job and lots of good friends. I was happy, but I was working in computer consulting and I didn’t feel like I was really doing my part to work for the Kingdom of God.
Through a lot of prayer and several years of discernment, I felt the call to Priesthood, or at least the call to go to seminary and discern the priesthood.
And it was amazing, when I entered seminary, I felt a peace and joy that I hadn’t felt in years. My parents recognized it. My sisters recognized it. Some of my friends even recognized it.
I had taken up Jesus’ yoke and he gave me rest. In a lot of ways it makes total sense - God made us for himself. Jesus is asking all of us to do this - I could have stayed in Des Moines, gotten married and still have taken up His yoke to a degree - but my calling was to the priesthood, to work with Jesus in the missionary fields.
And here in the field is where I find joy. And that is why I smile, because I have joy and I know God loves me as one of his little ones.
Do you know of God’s great love for you? Do you have joy for being with Jesus?
My prayer is that everyone would be open to being a little one, everyone would be in a trusting, loving relationship with Jesus, learning from him, being meek and humble of heart, finding rest in the form of peace and joy.