Friday, June 23, 2017

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

(Deuteronomy 7:6-11; I John 4:7-16; Matthew 11:25-30)

With all the attention given to on-line learning, one might think that classroom teaching will soon be obsolete.  But this is not likely.  As much as computers abet instruction, students often need physical contact with a person.  They have questions that computers cannot understand and difficulties that only human intuition can ascertain.

In the gospel today Matthew presents Jesus as the “teacher of the ages.”  His meekness will not reject anyone.  His integrity assures that he never says one thing then does another.  The yoke that he lays on apprentices is the lessons they are to follow.  It is not unduly burdensome because he helps students bear it.  Put simply, the yoke is that his students love another. 

The heart of Jesus, pierced and aflame, symbolizes all the richness of this gospel nugget.  Its ardor reaches all people without exception.  Its vulnerability knows the trials of the weak who in different ways include everyone.  It invites each of us to enter its chambers where we might be renewed for the journey to truth, goodness, and love.