14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A, MASS, GOSPEL AND REFLECTION: “LEARN FROM ME, FOR I AM MEEK” (Mt 11:25-30).

Gospel of Sunday, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
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.”

Gospel Reflection
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

1. “Come to me,…, learn from me“

Jesus invites us to come to him, and learn from him. Why?

• Because He is the Way Truth, and Life.
  • In him and through Him only can man find his real and lasting happiness. In him we will find peace, joy and serenity in store of and in the midst of life’s adversities.
  • St. Josemaria, Forge, n. 756: There can be no doubt that for us who love Jesus, prayer is the great “pain—reliever”.
• We could ask ourselves. Lord, do I go to you, do I deal with you and pray to you daily?
  • How may times do I remember you during the day?
    • Jesus is awaiting for us in all things, esp. in the Tabernacle.
    •  May we be generous in putting the means to go to Him daily through prayer, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Mass, and presence of God.
  • May we go to him with confidence, not only during difficult moments of our life but all throughout our life.

But not only that. Jesus also tells us to learn from him. Why?

• As the Way, the Truth and the Life, No one goes to the Father except through Him
• He showed us the way to reach the Father, or eternal happiness.
• That is why we need to learn from him and imitate him because in this consists the happiness and holiness to which we are called: to live his virtues for love, to identify ourselves with him, to be other Christs.

2. For I am meek

Today we could focus on one of the many virtues which Our Lord taught us: Learn from me for I am meek. Our Lord tells us in one of the Beatitudes: Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

But what does it mean to be meek?

A meek person is one who endures injury, hardships, insults, injustice with patience and without resentment, without giving into anger or violence.

• He remains serene and steadfast in the midst of difficulties without giving into discouragement, revenge, and anger whether in thought, word or deed.
• Opposite to meekness are: arrogance, imperiousness, overbearingness, scornfulness.
• The meekness which Our Lord asks from is far from having lack of courage or bravery to react to unjust situations. Rather, Christian meekness requires a strong character to overcome irritability, air of superiority, and violence, and paves the way towards an attitude of forebearance and forgiveness.
• At times, it may give into anger, as Our Lord himself did when he expelled the merchants from the temple,to underline the respect the house of God deserves as a house of prayer. But it is a holy anger.

As seen above, the virtue of meekness is indispensable in our Christian life. We could ask ourselves if we struggle to be meek.

• When insulted or offended, do I get angry and return the insult and the offense? Or do I try to pray for that person and offer to God the hurt in a silent way?
• Am I always irritable, manifesting it in my conversation, in my facial expression or gestures?
  • St. Josemaria: Don’t say: ‘That’s the way I’m made… it’s my character’. It’s your lack of character: Be a man (TW 4).
    •  It is more difficult to be meek than to be impulsive. Meekness requires self-mastery and control, whereas speaking or acting with anger and irritability is so easy and common: it is for the impulsive, and proud.
  • Pope Francis said: If we are constantly upset and impatient with others, we will end up drained and weary. But if we regard the faults and limitations of others with tenderness and meekness, without an air of superiority, we can actually help them and stop wasting our energy on useless complaining. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux tells us that “perfect charity consists in putting up with others’ mistakes, and not being scandalized by their faults”
• How many relationships among family members, spouses, siblings, friends, have been broken because of anger, because of lack of meekness, which is always rooted in pride.
  • Let us remember: It is better to be silent than to give into anger and to say hurtful words which we would always regret having said.
  • It is better to be kind than to be right.
  • It is better to be humble than to be proud, arrogant and violent.
• Someone might object: “If I am that meek, they will think that I am an idiot, a fool or a weakling”. At times they may, but so be it. It is always better to be meek, for then our deepest desires will be fulfilled. The meek “shall inherit the earth”, for they will see God’s promises accomplished in their lives. In every situation, the meek put their hope in the Lord, and those who hope for him shall possess the earth.

Meekness stems from humility, an indipensable virtue but this is for another homily. Yet, I would like to insist on the indispensability of humility because it is the foundation and dwelling place of all virtues, especially of charity.

• Without humility, there is no true virtue. But above all, there is no love.

Let us ask God to grant us the grace to change ourselves so that we may put into practice His words: “Come to me…Learn from me.” And that we may struggle daily to be meek and humble of heart in our daily life and relationship with Him and with others.

A Blessed Sunday and week ahead! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

VIDEO COMMENTARY ON TODAY’S GOSPEL

TOPIC: When we are weary and are carrying heavy loads,
do we go to the Lord?

Let’s watch this excerpt from a video made by Psych Hub Education on Anxiety. [VIDEO – WHAT IS ANXIETY? – VIDEO BY PSYCH HUB EDUCATION]

We are now on the 7th month of the year and more than three months of quarantine, lockdown and stay-home directives to prevent this Covid-19 from afflicting more people at home and globally.

• Many of us are feeling an extra amount of anxiety with many of us losing jobs, are financially drained and living on the help of others. We ask ourselves the questions: “When will this pandemic end? Between now and then, what will happen? How long will my lifeline last?” “Will I or my loved ones catch this virus?”

• We do not know what the future holds, but the uncertainty and the accompanying anxiety level has risen with it. The Lord invites us today. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Notice the word weary. It means feeling or showing tiredness as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep. Why the tiredness and lack of sleep? It is, perhaps, because of too much worrying.

• Weary contains the word EAR. Perhaps, if we lend an EAR to the Lord daily, our sense of balance, confidence and comfort will be sustained, restored and enhanced.

How then is our prayer time? Are we so caught up with watching the latest news and gossips of the day on TV and our gadgets that we forget to pray? Or, are we passing the time having Netflix binges as a form of “relaxation” that we hurry our prayers to get them over with?

• The Lord invites us to listen to Him and accept His invitation to be with Him. Change the first letter of the word WORRY with the letter S and it becomes SORRY. We will not be able to listen well to our Lord if there are blocks to our channels of communication. We must make things right with Him. We must also fix our relationships with those whom we have hurt or those who have hurt us before our pleas reach our Lord.

• Our own peace of mind can only be assured if we make peace with one another and with God.

• Let’s spend more time to reach out to our God. For prayer is powerful and is the answer to all our problems. St. Paul was right when he said, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6) St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A MASS PRAYERS AND READINGS.

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