14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Zechariah 9:9-10 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matthew 11: 25-30
Saint Matthew’s Gospel is divided into seven sections. First we have the account of the birth and infancy of Jesus, then the announcing of the Kingdom of Heaven followed by Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom by his teaching and working miracles. Over the last three Sundays we have read from the fourth section of the Gospel which deals with the calling of the twelve disciples and they being sent out to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
In this fourth section of Matthew’s account of the Life and Mission of Jesus we are shown something of the Mystery that is the Life of Jesus Himself. Not long after He proclaimed His mission and the realisation of the Kingdom there came questioning and opposition. There was also some confusion as to who He was and the role that John the Baptist had in this Kingdom. Jesus assures them that ‘of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen’ (Matt 11:11) and that everyone in the Kingdom of Heaven, even the children are equal in the eyes of the Father.
Today’s gospel passage gives us a glimpse into the life of Jesus, himself and into the relationship he has with the Father. We are allowed to witness Jesus praying to the Father. His prayer is firstly a Prayer of Praise! “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth”. This follows a time of conflict between Jesus and the Jews and even some of his disciples. They had been acting like children who don’t get their own way. Instead of asking the Father to change them, to give him patience with them or to find new ways of dealing with them, Jesus praises God – confident that the Father who knows all things already will look kindly on him whatever His needs may be.
This insight into how Jesus prays reminds us of another time in the Gospels; when John was baptising at the River Jordan, he identified Jesus, who was passing that way, and two of the onlookers approached Jesus to ask where he lived. The response of Jesus at that time was “Come and see”! So they went with him and spent the day with him. It must have been a precious time and they must have had a wonderful insight to the person and character of Jesus. During this time they surely learned many things from Him and certainly one thing must have been how to pray. Prayer is the essence of any relationship with God. So often our prayer is prayer of petition. We ask, we beg, we plead. Do we need to keep asking a God who already knows what is right for us?
In 2017 Fr Solanus Guild, a saintly Capuchin friar from Canada was beatified by Pope Francis. He was best known for the fact that in preaching about prayer he told people to start praising God now, and not to wait until after the favour had been granted. His motto was ‘Thank God ahead of time!’
Today’s Gospel issues another invitation to ‘come and see’. ‘Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened ….. I will give you rest for your soul …..’ That is the heart of prayer – rest for the soul. We rest in God, confident that all our needs will be met and that the will of God will be done even before I ask or think of asking. Prayer of Praise gives glory to God and serenity to our humble