Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Mathew 11:25-27)

According to a contemporary proverb, when life deals one lemons, she is to make lemonade. It may appear Pollyannaish, but it might be said that Jesus is up to something similar in today’s gospel.

The tenor of today’s reading differs so dramatically from yesterday’s that they seem to come from different parts of the gospel if not different gospels altogether. Yet they follow one another as surely as calf and cow. In yesterday’s gospel Jesus complained that Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum will not reform despite the fact that he has shown them God’s mighty deeds. But Jesus refuses to sulk. Rather in today’s verses, that directly follow the lament on the three towns, Jesus thanks God for revealing His glory to the humble.

The passage reassures us that we do not have to be rich, schooled, or intelligent to be enlightened by God. As a matter of fact the situation is quite the contrary. When we humbly submit to God in prayer and righteousness, He will reveal to us His truth.