14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); July 5, 2026

Zec 9:9-10.  Ps 145.  Rom 8:9-13.  Mt 11:25-30

Deacon Jim McFadden

       In today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing his Father and, in so doing, is offering us the view of the inner life of God and he is inviting us to share in this eternal and divine life.  We hear: “I give praise to you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike” (or ‘babes’ in other translations)   (Mt 11:5). First, what are these “hidden things” that Jesus is talking about? And, then who are the recipients, the “child like” or “babes”  to which such things are given?

         The things for which Jesus praises the Father are right out in the open. Before this the Lord Jesus has recalled what he has done: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Mt 11:5).

No ordinary human being can perform such signs, but they reveal that God is at work in the world through his only begotten Son, Jesus.  The message is clear: the “hidden things” is that God reveals himself by liberating and healing the human person.  And why does he do it?  He does this with a gratuitous love, a love that saves.  This is why Jesus is praising his Father because his greatness consists in love and everything that the Father does is done in and through love because GOD IS LOVE! 

         But this greatness of God’s love is not understood by the “wise and learned.”  You’d think they’d be the first ones to grasp the truth of the Kingdom of God, but they don’t.  Why not?  They’re trying to process reality, not from the vantage point of divine consciousness which is essentially relational, but from the perspective of concupiscence: that ancient theological notion which believes one can attain happiness  by acquiring the goods of the world.  In other words they want to fabricate a god in their own image—one who is powerful, inflexible, and vindictive. In other words, those who think they know it all, who are not able to accept that God is Father and therefore they are his child, those who are so full of themselves, proud, only concerned about their own self-interest, they can’t possibly get it with their warped consciousness (aka, ‘old wineskin’).

         The little children, the ‘babes’, instead, know how to welcome them, and Jesus praises them for they are uncomplicated, simple ones, who like children, feel their radical need for God’s grace and are not self-sufficient.  They are open to God and allow themselves to be amazed as to how God comes to them in their lives. They know how to read the signs of God’s presence, to marvel at the miracles of his love that is conveyed in their ordinary experience and most especially at the Eucharist. 

         Brothers and sisters,  there is not a moment of our lives in which God is not loving us unconditionally and bursting forth into our heart and soul.  But we, too, can become  indifferent and our Catholic faith routine.  We can become a bit jaded—“been there, done that”—as we don’t allow ourselves to be amazed by the Triune God’s presence in our lives. 

         People of God, if we live our lives as children, we will experience  profound sense of joy that will carry us to eternal life.  We don’t originate it, but it is something that Jesus gives us.  It is the joy that comes from the 1^st Beatitude—Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there’s the Kingdom of God.”  Those who are detached from the goods of the world, those who are living out of their soul and are guided by the Holy Spirit, who have embraced ongoing metanoia (transformation), who are builders of the New Jerusalem, their solace is JOY!  As Teilhard de Chardin (SJ) once wrote: “The most infallible sign of God’s presence is joy.” 

         Today’s Gospel is a challenge: do I allow myself to marvel like a child at the Summum Bonum that silently changes the world?  Or have I lost my ability to be amazed?  And do I bless the Father each day for his works?  May Mary, most blessed, who exulted in the Lord, make us capable of being amazed by his love and of praising him with simplicity.  Amen.