The Humble One

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 5 July 2020
First reading Zechariah 9:9-10

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Second reading                                                          Romans 8:9-13

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Gospel                                                                          Matthew 11:25-30

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.”

Reflection

By Jose Paulo Gonzales

We have heard how it was said in today’s Gospel: the wisdom of the Lord has been revealed to the little ones, for so seems good in the Lord’s sight.

This Sunday, we delight in one characteristic of Jesus that gives balance especially with the status quo, the normal scenario we have today: whereas the world sides with the learned, the powerful, the rich, and the aesthetically pleasing, the Lord uplifts the downtrodden; the never or little heard; the unnoticeable; the forgotten.

The wisdom of the Lord, aside from His supernatural graces come through Jesus, the One who came humbly Himself, not likening Himself to God the Father, but exalted by God the Father anyway; this Jesus who was born in a (likely) decrepit manger in small-town Bethlehem, who was Son to a carpenter, who graced being a little one Himself, although delivered the will of the Father triumphantly, nonetheless.

Come to think of it, no matter where we look, we are, or we were, little to something; to someone.

We are all little to the world. The vastness of the universe and the whopping circumference of the earth make us minute grains; pieces of dust.

To someone, it is no stranger that we feel small. Perhaps there is a person ready we have in mind as we read this; we have been made to feel little by at least one person in our lives, likely those who have authority or seniority over us. We have been subordinates to bosses, children to parents or those advanced in years, novices to experts, students to teachers, and many such else.

We have all felt how it is to be the new one, the young, the unlearned. We have had our humble beginnings. We all have had experiences of being small. And this is where we take consolation: that in that feeling of being small, we are not alone; we have One who espoused that feeling although He did not need to. He existed with the Father in the very beginning, and with the Father, enjoys supreme reign over all, yet He came down from Heaven to accomplish the Father’s mission—to redeem us all. He may have started small when He was conceived, but God has delivered through His hands something monumental; something eternal.

If there is any inkling in our mind that thinks there is no end to our feeling small, may we take solace in this: as we take the humble position, in our feeling small, God exalts us; just like how God the Father did with Jesus. Jesus was born and lived in the simplest of ways, but God has let something magnificent be delivered through His hands; and who is to say God the Father cannot do great things with us, too?

It may be difficult, or even excruciating to take the humble position: to forgive when the aggressor takes all his or her pride to soar mockingly over us, to fly under the radar when we do good works just not to be noticed, not to harp on our achievements lest we make it about ourselves, and many such else. There are many ways we can take the humble position, but whatever way we choose in good faith, the Lord will exalt us in His own way.

Let this be our consolation: in our struggle to be the little—the humble one, we have Jesus whom we can learn from, He who is meek and humble of heart, He whom we can take our rest in, He whose yoke we can carry, for His yoke is sweet, and His burden, light (Matthew 11:29-30).

Prayer

Abba, first, we would like to praise You for the greatness that You are. 

Thank You for giving us hope that amid our feeling of being small, You are there to be with us and lift us up. You are very faithful in loving and extending mercy to us, and we believe that You would be also faithful in completing the work You began in us.

May Your exaltation of us also bring good to others, lifting them up, as You have lifted us.
May all these bring glory to You, our Father, in Jesus’ most holy Name, Amen.