Wednesday, July 16, 2014


Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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

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

The tenor of today’s gospel differs so dramatically from yesterday’s that they seem to come from different parts of the New Testament.  Yet they follow one another as surely as calf and cow.  In yesterday’s passage 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 over 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 indicates the contrary.  When we humbly submit to God in prayer and obedience, He will reveal His truth to us.