06

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel: Mt 11:25–30（玛11：25-30）

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

At that time Jesus said in reply, "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 the childlike. 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 your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily:  “SMALL” — THE ONLY HONORIFIC TITLE RECOGNIZED IN HEAVEN

The solemn exclamation with which today’s gospel begins is one of the few prayers of Jesus reported in the gospels: "Father, Lord of heaven and earth… revealed them to simple people." Jesus states a fact: the poor, the humble, the marginalized are the first to welcome his word of deliverance. They feel the need for God’s tenderness. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. They are blessed because for them the kingdom of God has come.

In the second part of the passage Jesus says: "No one knows the Son except the Father… and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Knowing in the Bible means "to have a profound experience of the person." A full knowledge of the Father is possible only to the Son. However, he may communicate this experience to anyone he wants. Who will have the right disposition to accept his revelation? The small ones, of course! As long as the Scribes and Pharisees do not give up their attitude of being “wise” and “intelligent” people, they preclude the true and rewarding experience of God’s love.

The religion preached by these masters of Israel had transformed itself into an oppressive yoke. So the poor not only felt themselves wretched in this world but also rejected by God and excluded from the world to come. To these poor, lost and disoriented, Jesus addressed the invitation to be free from fear and distress religion instilled in them. He recommends: Accept my law, the new one that is summed up in a single commandment: love of the brothers/sisters. He does not propose an easier and permissive moral but an ethic that points directly to the essential. It does not waste energies in the observance of prescriptions “that has the appearance of wisdom” but in reality have no value (Col 2:23).

His yoke is sweet. First of all because it is his: not in the sense that he imposed it but because he carried it first. Jesus always bent down to the Father’s will. He freely embraced it while he never imposed human precepts (Mk 7). His yoke is sweet because only those who accept the wisdom of the beatitudes can experience joy and peace.

Finally, the invitation: "Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart." These are the terms that we find in the beatitudes for those who are poor and oppressed, those who, while suffering injustice, do not resort to violence. To all these poor people of the land Jesus says: I'm on your side, I am one of you, I am poor and rejected.

The passage of today's Gospel is a reason for both personal and community reflection. Which God do we believe in? Is he the one of the "wise"? Or the one revealed to us by Jesus who stands by the poor.

证道：良善心谦耶稣，天国认证小孩子！

今日福音以庄严的称呼开始，是福音中耶稣少有的这种祈祷：“父啊！天地的主宰！……启示给小孩子”。耶稣宣告一个事实：是穷困、谦卑和边缘之人首先接纳他的拯救之言。他们自觉需要天主的温柔以待，饥渴慕义。他们是有福的，因为他们的天主之国依然来临。

在今日福音的第二句中，耶稣说：“除了父以外，没有人认识子；除了子和子所愿意启示的人外，也没有人认识父”。只有子，才能完全认识父。然而，他能传授这种经验给任何他想要的人。谁有权接纳他的启示呢？当然是小孩子！只要经师和法利塞人不放弃他们作为“智慧”和“明达”之人的态度，就无法接纳天主之爱的真实和有益经验。

这些以色列的师傅所宣讲的宗教信仰，已经变成了一种压迫的枷锁。因此，导致穷人不仅觉得自己在这个世界被压迫，而且也被天主所拒绝，也被排除在永世之外。耶稣向这些穷困、迷失和不辨方向的人，发出了从他们被灌输的恐惧和忧虑悲伤宗教信仰中获得自由的邀请。耶稣诚意推荐：接纳我的法律，新法律概括为一条简单的命令：兄弟姐妹之爱。耶稣并未提出一个更容易和宽容的伦理道德，而是一个直接指向本质的伦理规范。它并不浪费精力在遵守“徒有智慧之名”而没有任何价值的规定（哥2：23）。

耶稣的轭是柔和的。首先因为这是他的：不是说他强化了，而是因为他首先背负了。耶稣总是屈服于父的旨意。他自由地拥抱它，同时也绝不强加给人戒律（谷7）。他的轭是柔和的，因为只有那些接受真福八端智慧的人才能经验到喜乐和平安。

最后的邀请：“你们跟我学习吧，因为我是良善心谦的。”这些是我们在真福八端中找到的措辞，真福八端是为那些穷困和被压迫的人，还有那些遭受不义之痛苦，却不诉诸于暴力的人。耶稣对所有这些世上的穷苦之人说：我支持你，我是你们中的一员，我穷困而被抛弃。  

今日福音的章节值得个人和团体反省：我们究竟信的哪个天主？祂是“智慧”的那位吗？或者是耶稣启示给我们的那一位，与穷人在一起呢？

文本来源：雅颂福传

译者：Fr.James