‘I thank you, Father . . . because you have . . . revealed [these things] to infants.’ Sunday Reflections, 14th Sunday in Ordina

 

Christ Blessing the Children, Nicolaes Maes, 1652-53
National Gallery, London [Web Gallery of Art]

 
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) 

Gospel Matthew 11:25-30  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada)

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

”

One night about forty years ago when I was chaplain in the college department of Immaculate Conception College (ICC) – now La Salle University – I was looking out of an upstairs window of the convento (presbytery/rectory). There were only two persons to be seen in the plaza in front of Immaculate Conception Cathedral. One was a young man, a beggar. The other was a gentle, simple-minded woman known to everyone, Goria, whose baptismal name I take to be Gregoria. Sometimes Goria would ask for money. However, she wasn’t a beggar and, as far as I know, spent most of her time with her family in nearby Tangub City. She would smile if you declined to give her money.

Sometimes Goria would wander into a classroom in ICC, as she would also do in St Michael’s High School in Tangub City. But she would never disturb anyone, never say anything while there. She’d simply doodle with chalk on the blackboard.

Pandesal

As I looked out the window I saw that Goria had a small plastic bag with two pieces ofpandesal, usually eaten at breakfast. She went over to the beggar and gave him one of them. 
I have been blessed on a number of occasions to have seen acts of utterly pure generosity, of utterly pure love. And those who have shown me such pure love have usually been children or persons like Goria. In the Irish language we speak of someone like her as ‘duine le Dia’, ‘a person with God’. And they have been totally unaware of the impact of their actions, sometimes not even aware that these have been noticed.
I inquired about Goria the other day and was happy to learn that she still walks among us, though she is far from being young.
Lala feeding Jordan, L’Arche Punla Community, Cainta, Rizal, Philippines
Goria, Lala and Jordan are all daoine le Dia, ‘persons with God’. That doesn’t only mean that they have a special place in God’s heart, which they have, but that they are, in a very real sense, ‘God-bearers’. They carry God with them.
That is why Pope Francis writes in Evangelii Gaudium No 198 [emphases added]: This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives andto put them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.
To repeat what Jesus tells us in the Gospel today: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Entrance Antiphon  Antiphona ad introitum (Cf Ps 47 [48]:10-11)

Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam in medio templi tui. 
Your merciful love, O God, we have received in the midst of your temple.
Secundum nomen tuum, Deus, ita et laus tua in fines terrae, 
Your praise, O God, like your name, reaches the ends of the earth,
justitiam plena est dextera tua.
your right had is filled with saving justice.

[(Ps. 47: 2) Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis: in civitate Dei nostri; in monte sancto ejus. 
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
v. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancti sicut erat in principio et nunc, et semper, et saecula saeculorum. Amen. Repeat Suscepimus . . .

v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat Your merciful love . . .]

The video contains the full Entrance Antiphon as sung or said in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.
 
This video ties in with today’s gospel – and with the ongoing World Cup. Notice the colours of the young man’s shirt, keeping in mind where Pope Francis is from. And check the name and number on the back of the shirt!