Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 - Wednesday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Isa 10:5-7, 13b-16 and Matt 11:25-27]"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." [Matthew]
The Gospel According to Matthew emphasizes the reception of Jesus and his preaching by the lowly and humble classes of his time and his rejection by the religious authorities - the educated and wealthy. The passage quoted above tells us who is being rejected!! He is none other than THE Son of God. As at the incident of the "transfiguration" Jesus pulls aside a kind of veil and reveals himself more fully [Matt. 17:1-8].
Acceptance of Jesus has consequences, some of which were described in chapter 10, which we just concluded. Discipleship can mean rejection and persecution, just as Jesus suffered. It also has consequences for our day to day behavior, as the Sermon on the Mount teaches. [Matt. 5-7]. We are not called to a "part time discipleship" with select acceptance of Jesus' teachings. There is no "custom" discipleship. The disconnect between our cultural and political environment and the gospel is glaring at times and subtle at times. Separation of our cultural and political behavior from our faith in Jesus is a contradiction in terms. The Gospel According to Matthew is a powerful reminder of the consequences of faith in Jesus. AMEN