Catechism Links[1]
CCC 514-521: Knowledge of mysteries of Christ, communion in his mysteries
CCC 238-242: The Father is revealed by the Son
CCC 989-990: The resurrection of the body
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| “Christ the Redeemer” by Andrea Del Sarto, c. 1650 |
Commentary:
Commentary on Zec 9:9-10
The oracle of the Prophet Zechariah speaks of the restoration of Israel following the great exile. In this section he speaks of the coming of the Messiah. “The Messiah will come, not as a conquering warrior, but in lowliness and peace. Not like the last kings of Judah, who rode in chariots and on horses (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4), but like the princes of old (Genesis 49:11; Judges 5:10; 10:4), the Messiah will ride on an ass. The Evangelists see a literal fulfillment of this prophecy in the Savior's triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:4-5; John 12:14-15).”[5]
CCC: Zec 9:9 559
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R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Commentary on Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. The singer invites all to join in praising God for all the Lord has done. God is praised for his creation, his kindness, and his mercy toward those who have fallen on hard times.
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Commentary on Rom 8:9, 11-13
After his warning in Romans 7 against the wrong route to fulfillment of the objective of holiness expressed in Romans 6:22, Paul points his addressees to the correct way. Through the redemptive work of Christ, Christians have been liberated from the terrible forces of sin and death. Holiness was impossible so long as the flesh (or our "old self") was alive. The same Spirit that enlivens Christians for holiness will also resurrect their bodies at the last day. Christian life is, therefore, the experience of a constant challenge to put to death the evil deeds of the body through life of the spirit (Romans 8:13).[6]
CCC: Rom 8:9 693; Rom 8:11 632, 658, 693, 695, 989, 990
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Commentary on Mt 11:25-30
Jesus has just completed a fairly scathing criticism of the people in the places he has been and performed miracles, yet many have not accepted him as the Messiah. He now concludes this section as he reflects that, while the Scribes and Pharisees (“the wise and learned”) have not understood who he is, those with simple faith have accepted him freely. He then issues an invitation to all who “labor and are burdened” quoting an invitation similar to one in the book of Sirach to learn wisdom and submit to her yoke (Sirach 51:23, 26).
“This Q saying, identical with Luke 10:21-22 except for minor variations, introduces a joyous note into this section, so dominated by the theme of unbelief. While the wise and the learned, the scribes and Pharisees, have rejected Jesus' preaching and the significance of his mighty deeds, the childlike have accepted them. Acceptance depends upon the Father's revelation, but this is granted to those who are open to receive it and refused to the arrogant. Jesus can speak of all mysteries because he is the Son and there is perfect reciprocity of knowledge between him and the Father; what has been handed over to him is revealed only to those whom he wishes.”[7]
The final verses of this section are found only in St. Matthew’s Gospel and promise salvation to those who are downtrodden or in pain.
CCC: Mt 11:25-27 2603, 2779; Mt 11:25-26 2701; Mt 11:25 153, 544, 2785; Mt 11:27 151, 240, 443, 473; Mt 11:28 1658; Mt 11:29-30 1615; Mt 11:29 459
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Homily:
Unless your homes were all much better insulated than mine, most of us went to bed Tuesday night with sounds that might have reminded us of a war zone. Fireworks are a long-standing tradition as we in America celebrate our nation’s birth. While the actual birth date was earlier in the week, I wanted to provide just a quick reminder of what was said and codified back in 1776. Let me just read once more the opening lines to our “Declaration of Independence.”
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—
Anyone who reads these words should have no doubt that our founding fathers were faith-filled, religious men who valued the moral and ethical statutes by which their faith informed them. Those principles are under attack even as we celebrate some victories for religious freedom in the courts. There continues to be a back lash in the form of a full page ad in the New York Times (which claims to be a servant of the truth) placed by the Wisconsin based “Freedom From Religion” group. It castigates the Supreme Court for its ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby’s request for an exemption from the requirement that they pay for insurance for their employees that violate their religious beliefs and precepts. The ad itself is blatantly anti-Catholic using such terms as ““zealous fundamentalists” and “an exercise of tyranny.” Using the image of Margaret Sanger, the racist, atheist founder of Planned Parenthood whose motto was “No Gods – No Masters” we can only assume their ultimate goal is a godless anarchy rather than “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
How different that rhetoric than what we hear from Christ in the Gospel from Saint Matthew. The Lord, in earlier scripture, has been lamenting the fact that the Scribes and Pharisees would not accept him as the Messiah, even though he had performed numerous signs and wonders which should have convinced them. In this passage, we just heard the Lord give us his great invitation:
“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 yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
He describes himself as “meek and humble of heart” the same image predicted by Sirach in the first reading (who for good measure added the detail Jesus would later fulfill as he triumphantly entered Jerusalem- “riding an ass”). He offers peace and his easy burden.
The easy yoke he speaks of is important for us to consider. He is contrasting his commandments to us with the micro-management of the Pharisaic interpretation of God’s Law as delivered by Moses and the authors of the Torah. Under the Pharisaic tradition there were over 600 individual stipulations that needed to be rigorously followed. We have heard some of these restrictions in other stories in the Gospels – most especially Jesus' insistence on performing miracles on the Sabbath, which the Jewish Leadership considered as “work,” all forms of which were forbidden on the Sabbath. In the Acts of the Apostles we also heard the challenge of bringing uncircumcised Gentiles into the fold.
The Lord tells us, compared with all of those customs and traditions, his yoke is easy (recall the yoke is a device placed upon work animals such as horses, mules, and oxen to steer them). In saying this he tells us that if, for instance, we eat pork, a meat forbidden under the Torah’s dietary laws, we will not be condemned or fall from God’s grace. In that sense we are given very gentle guidance by our Savior.
Where it gets more challenging is when we consider what is this yoke the Lord considers to be easy? What is the one overarching commandment the Lord gives us as the yoke we are invited to take to steer us? It is simple. He calls us to first love God and then to love one another as he loves us; pretty simple really. Yet in practice, this commandment is very challenging.
To be clear, we can love a person and not consider them to be great friends. We can love a person and, since we are not like Jesus in all things, get mad at them and disagree with them. What we are forbidden to do by this yoke of love is to wish them harm or to embrace hatred.
The burden the Lord places upon is light indeed since he has offered to take a majority of that burden upon himself. He offered himself on the Cross to atone for our sins, taking upon himself the great burdens we pile upon ourselves when we cannot accept the yoke of love and fall into sin.
Today we are challenged indeed. We are attacked by those who wish to destroy the foundation of faith upon which our country was built and we are asked to love those who hate us. Let us all do our very best to accept the easy yoke that takes us to peace and reject our natural instincts to throw that yoke off and behave as wild animals do.
Pax
In other years on this date: Optional Memorial for Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Chinese Martyrs
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2] The picture used today is “Christ the Redeemer” by Andrea Del Sarto, c. 1650
[5] NAB footnote on Zechariah 9:9
[6] Taken in part from the NAB footnote on Romans 8:1-13
[7] See NAB footnote on Matthew 11:25ff
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