Fourteenth Sunday Homily of the ordinary Time Year A

Table of Contents

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A

Humility and gentleness of heart

INTRODUCTION AND CONFITEOR

At times we all find life difficult. We become overburdened with problems and worries. We often use these as an excuse for not turning to Christ. In today’s Gospel Christ tells us to bring all our burdens to him and he will give us comfort, peace, and strength. Let us come to him with love and trust. [Pause]

Lord, you reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to those who are open and receptive. Lord, have mercy.

You invite us to come to you when we are weary from work and worry. Christ, have mercy.

You ask us to learn from you to be gentle and humble of heart so that we may find peace for our troubled souls. Lord, have mercy.

HEADING FOR READINGS

First Reading (Zechariah 9:9-10). The people are urged to rejoice because when their messianic leader comes, he will not come as a proud warrior, but as a humble and gentle champion of peace.

Second Reading (Romans 8:9.11-13). St Paul says that we have the Spirit living in us. With the help of the Spirit we can live lives that are worthy of our great dignity.

Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30). It is the little people, those who are humble and gentle of heart, who receive the blessings of Christ.

1st Reading – Zechariah 9:9-10

⁹ Thus says the LORD: Rejoice well, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King will come to you: the Just One, the Savior. He is poor and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt, the son of a donkey.

¹⁰ And I will scatter the four-horse chariot out of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be destroyed. And he will speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power will be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 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.

¹ I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
² 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.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
⁹ 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.

¹⁰ Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
¹¹ 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.

¹³ The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
¹⁴ 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.

2nd Reading – Romans 8:9, 11-13

⁹ Brothers and sisters: And you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if it is true that the Spirit of God lives within you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

¹¹ But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead lives within you, then he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies, by means of his Spirit living within you.

¹² Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, so as to live according to the flesh.

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.

Alleluia – CF. Matthew 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
²⁵ Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30

²⁵ 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.

²⁶ Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

HOMILY

The first reading pictures a king coming humbly to Zion, riding on a donkey. He is a messenger of peace. This prophecy was fulfilled on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, unarmed and defenceless. He looked on a city heading for destruction and, with tears in his eyes, said, ‘How I long to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chickens under her wing, but you refuse’. There is a lovely story about a little girl who with her simplicity, openness, and goodness moved the world and gave two great nations a nudge towards peace.

In August 1985 a thirteen year old girl died in a plane crash. Many people in Russia and America wept on hearing the news. Her name was Samantha Smith. A few years previously Samantha had captured the attention, imagination, and the heart of people around the world. She hadn’t won a gold medal. Nor was she a child prodigy. She was just an ordinary child with an open and loving heart.

One morning when she was ten she woke up in Maine and ‘wondered if this was going to be the last day of the earth’. She had just read about the arms race and thought that it made no sense. And then she did something that only an unsophisticated child might do. She wrote a letter to Mr. Andropove, the Soviet leader. She said, ‘I am worried about Russia and America getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote for war? Please tell me how we can stop having a war’.

The amazing thing is this. Mr. Andropov answered her letter and invited her to Russia to see things for herself. In 1983, accompanied by her parents, Samantha went to Russia. While there she got the red carpet treatment. She met with Russian children of her own age, and they got on really well. When she returned to America she said, ‘If we can be friends by getting to know each other better, then what are our two countries arguing about? Nothing could be more important than stopping a nuclear war.’

Adults cannot say such things lest they should seem silly.

They have to talk realistically. They have to be suspicious and cautious. So what do they do? They ask children to say these things for them. Two years after being in Russia Samantha was still being asked about peace. Once she said, ‘It feels real weird being asked about peace. Adults, after all, are supposed to be able to figure it out.’

This little girl had the spirit of the Gospel. I feel Jesus would be very proud of her. She was not weak, she was strong. And Jesus, though he carried no weapons, was not weak. He was strong. Just look at the power he had over the human heart. Looked at how he changed the hearts of Mary Magdalen and Zacchaeus. Stalin could make people tremble before him but he could not change their hearts. Only Jesus could do that.

Jesus says to us, ‘Learn of me for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls’. Humility and gentleness: two words that don’t seem to make much sense in the world of today. Take gentleness. Today if you want to get on you are told to throw your weight around. And yet, even from a human point of view, gentleness makes a lot of sense.

To be gentle is not necessarily to be weak. In fact gentleness is a form of strength. Take the hands of a mother or a surgeon. Here it is gentleness that counts, not brute force. A storm breaks flowers, whereas a gentle sun gets them to open up and grow. Without gentleness we cannot help others to grow or develop. All we will do is make them withdraw further into their shells.

And take humility. Again, in today’s competitive world, it would seem to make about as much sense as a parachute to a deep-sea diver. Today you are told to project yourself if you want to make it. And yet humility is not a form of weakness. ‘Loving humility is a powerful force, and there is nothing in the world like it’. (Dostoyevsky). Humility is the foundation on which to build the house of the spirit. Humble people know that before God they are poor, weak, and vulnerable. They do not build on false things. When we are empty God can fill us. When we are weak God can strengthen us.

To the gentle and humble Jesus promises peace of soul. It is because we know so little about being gentle with one another that we have so much trouble in our homes and in the world. We want to dominate others. It is because we know so little about humanity that we have so little peace within ourselves and with others. Proud and arrogant people do not bring peace. They spread confusion and unrest by projecting onto others their own anger and frustrations. Humble people disarm others and bring out the best in them.

‘My burden is light’, says Jesus. If we listen to him he will not only sweeten our burdens but our whole lives. He will carry us when we are weak. He will calm us when we are troubled and afraid. And he will help us to have a compassionate heart towards others. He will make us want to lighten their burdens where we can. Solidarity doubles joy and halves sorrow.

‘Humility is the land where God wants us to go and offer sacrifice’. (Thomas Morton).

‘Acquire inner peace, and a multitude of people will find salvation near you’. (St Seraphim).

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

Let us pray that we may learn the lessons of today’s Gospel.

Lord, teach us your ways.

That all Christians may be convinced that gentleness is a form of strength, and that it opens doors that would otherwise remain closed. [Pause] We pray to the Lord.

That all governments may turn aside from torture, cruelty, injustice, and oppression. [Pause] We pray to the Lord.

For all those who are bothered by troubles and anxieties: that they may have recourse to Christ, and so find comfort, peace and strength. [Pause] We pray to the Lord.

That in all our dealings with others we may turn away from pride and arrogance, and try to imitate the humility and gentleness of Christ. [Pause] We pray to the Lord.

For local needs.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, Jesus your Son left us a wonderful example of gentleness and humility, and taught us the true meaning of strength. Help us to learn from his example. We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.

SIGN OF PEACE

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your disciples: ‘Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls’. Lord, teach us gentleness and humility of heart, so that we may enjoy the peace and unity of your kingdom where you will for ever and ever.