July 6, 2014
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Zec 9:9-10
2nd Reading: Rom 8:9, 11-13
Gospel: Mt 11:25-30
On one occasion Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.
“Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus uses a very familiar Jewish prayer formula of praise in his prayer to the Father which the Pharisee also used in his prayer at the Temple (see the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican). Jesus says, “I praise you, Father, lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people.” What is this revelation all about?
The revelation is about Jesus himself. This has profound Christological content. As the absolute revelation of the Father no one will know the Father except through him and anyone (the simple, not the learned) to whom he wishes to reveal the Father. Jesus invites these simple people to come to him because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The yoke he is referring to is the yoke of Torah (the yoke of the Law). How has this Law of Moses (Torah) become so heavy a burden to the people?
The Torah is the Law of God revealed to Moses and is written in the first 5 Books of the Bible. Understandably, because it came from God himself, the religious leaders were burning with zeal to see it implemented to the letter. To ensure perfect observance, strict legal interpretations that stretched the meaning of the Law beyond the meaning of its provisions evolved into “oral laws”. These contributed to the weight already imposed by the Torah.
Jesus invites those heavily laden with this burden to come to him as the revelation of the Father and find rest in him. True enough his commandment is lighter because there is only one commandment of Love. But while his yoke of love is quantitatively lighter, it is nevertheless qualitatively heavier because everything is already embraced therein. For this we need God’s grace. Only in God’s grace is Jesus’ yoke truly easy and his burden truly light.— Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM-HRM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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