FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
5 JULY 2020
The
prophet Zechariah writes to a people under occupation in the Promised
Land. The Egyptians had dominated them
from the south, and later the Assyrians and Babylonians had occupied them from
the northeast. After defeating the
Persians, Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire is now in total control. Zechariah knows that his people are mindful
of their history of occupation and oppressions.
As a result, they see very little hope for peace or security. But that is what he promises them. He speaks of a savior. This savior will not ride into Jerusalem as a
mighty warrior on a horse accompanied by chariots and bows, the instruments of
war and destruction. Instead, this
savior will ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, a beast signifying peace and
humility. With this hope, Zechariah
tells his people to rejoice heartily and shout for joy.
Saint
Matthew recognized that this prophecy had been fulfilled when Jesus rode into
Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday.
The “little ones” of the city rejoice at his entrance and lay palm
branches in his path. They hope that
this savior will finally free them from the Romans, the current oppressors. However, the wise and the learned (the
scribes and Pharisees) would condemn this savior to bear the heavy yoke of a
cross and be executed like a common criminal later in that week. But some of those little ones would become
witnesses to the peace of the Savior when he was raised from the dead and break
through the locked doors of the room where they were hiding in fear.
In today’s Gospel, we hear the
savior addressing his disciples, his “little ones.” Jesus has just reproached the citizens of
Capernaum, the home base for his ministry, because they have not heeded his
teachings, even though they have witnessed his mighty deeds. He contrasts the wise and learned to his
disciples. They are the “little ones,”
his uneducated followers who have witnessed his mighty deeds and opened their
ears to his teaching. Jesus knows that
the wise and learned have piled on 613 different laws from the Law of Moses on
his little ones, burdening them without making any effort to help them carry
those laws. Instead, Jesus invites them
to carry his yoke, his simple and straightforward teachings about loving God
and neighbor. Instead of imposing a yoke
that they alone would carry, he promises to carry the yoke with them. He is gentle, unassuming, and
considerate. In giving himself totally
on the cross out of love, he promises that they will not be alone.
He makes that same promise to us
today. He reminds us of our union with the
Father and him through the waters of baptism. He promises us that he will carry with us
whatever yokes we assume when we obey his command to love God and
neighbor. He urges us to be meek, a
virtue that is greatly misunderstood.
Meekness does not mean that we become wimps and allow everyone else to
walk over us. Meekness implies that we
trust his promise of peace, even when we give nonviolent resistance to violent
and manipulative oppressors. He
encourages us to face the uncertainties of this pandemic and the heated
divisions, hate, and anger that have the power to discourage us and rob us of
hope.
We can accept his words, precisely
because of what Saint Paul tells the Romans.
As baptized members of the Body of Christ, we are not doomed to living
in the flesh. In other words, there is
more to us than our fragile human bodies that come from the earth. We are given generous amounts of God’s
spirit, enabling us to maintain our conviction in the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. He carried our yoke with
us and will teach us the true value of being meek, of sharing a peace with him
that the world cannot give.
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