Gospel Reflection July 9 – Deacon Steve
Sunday, July 9
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 11: 25-30
Gospel:
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.”
Gospel Reflection:
The Church gives us a beautiful Gospel this 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. We hear Christ’s praise of the Father, we see inside the relationship of God the Father and God the Son, and we are called to respond with childlike faith. We heard this same Gospel a few weeks ago at the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart; where we reflected on Christ’s meek and humble heart, and how we find true rest for ourselves there.
This Gospel is sometimes selected by families at funerals, particularly when a loved one has endured a difficult illness or decline. My own mother fought a long and painful battle at the end of her life, but I came to know through her example, prayer, and God’s own movement in the deepest parts of our hearts—that, as difficult as it was to admit, it was time for my mom to set down her burden, to take on Christ’s gentle yoke, and to find eternal rest in him.
We spend so much time in our lives yoked to things and entities that don’t really care for us, laden down by heavy burdens of the unrealistic expectations of worldly success and prestige. We also work hard taking care of those we love and just keeping things going. We need to hear these words of the Gospel—in our everyday lives and in the difficult moments in life—so that we come to praise the Father as Christ did, to see ourselves as his beloved children, and to know that God draws close to us no matter what happens in this life. Let us pray to God that we remain meek, live in humility, and that we turn to him with childlike love, set our burdens down, and take on his gentle yoke.
Deacon Stephen Petrill