Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, July 5, 2026 (EPISODE- 592)
Readings for Sunday, July 5, 2026 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A
FIRST READING: Zech 9:9-10
Sunday, July 5, 2026. "I will praise your name forever, my king and my God"
SECOND READING: Rom 8:9, 11-13
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matt 11:25). Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth. You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
GOSPEL: Matt 11:25-30
Image Credit-
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers, and homily), for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, July 5, 2026, by clicking this link here: https://on.soundcloud.com/wLTDOuRuPc2oWhKURU (EPISODE-592 )
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In the Holy Scriptures, there are so many wonderful readings, and many of them we know very well. Yet, every time we hear them again and again, we get something new from them, a deeper richness to their timeless message. For example, I discovered something about the familiar passage of the Gospel that says, My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Greek word in the original text of this Gospel uses the word for easy or gentle as krestos, which is astounding because it's so similar to the word kristos, meaning the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah and King. In the time of our Lord, people expected the Messiah was going to be a warrior king who would come with power and force and violently overthrow and crush the occupying forces of the Roman Empire and establish a new kingdom on earth, God's kingdom here. They also believed that this Messiah or Christ would seek retribution upon anyone who had not lived up to God's law and would bring down vengeance upon them.
Then, along comes Jesus as the true Messiah, and he's not violent at all. He's not forceful or military, but he's gentle and humble. The kristos turns out to be krestos, that is, the Christ is gentle.
His burdens on us are easy, for they are the burden of love. It's astounding and it's beautiful. Our Lord says himself, learn from him, for he shows us what it's like, and he is gentle and humble.
Often when we describe a yoke or a burden, these words create the impression of hardship and restriction and difficulty, and yet it's good to remind ourselves that a yoke was ultimately designed to be used in order to make the task easier, to make it manageable and tolerable. With a heavy task, a yoke allows the person or the animal to lift a weight and carry a weight in such a way that the weight is distributed across the whole beam, and it makes it possible, tolerable, over an extended period of time to carry rather heavy, almost impossible burdens. So it is, in that sense, that our Lord uses the image of a yoke or a burden.
He frequently warned his disciples and anyone who proposed to follow him as a disciple that there's definitely a cost to discipleship, that the path would be far from easy. Following Christ doesn't promise us earthly success or freedom from hardship or persecution. Jesus' own life shows us that.
Our Lord gives no guarantee of a dream run. It's a loving task, a burden. However, it's a bit like that moving song based on an even older Scottish legend, he's not heavy, he's my brother.
It's not a burden, it's carrying something that's difficult because we love the person we're carrying it for. The focus is not on the difficulty, but on the passion and the love behind the cause, the goal. Our mission is to spread God's love to all the world, in both word, but even more so in action.
And that's a wonderful vocation. It's a beautiful burden, if you like to say it like that. It's a wonderful duty and a superb task.
And it's a task of love. And in that sense, it makes the burden a light one, no matter what the challenges. And Christ always offers to bear for us the greater load.
Jesus also invites us to learn from him. And what we have to learn is that Jesus is loving in all his dealings. Love is at the core and at the meaning of everything he does and says.
And he is gentle and humble and just. A true disciple must be humble and gentle and compassionate, but above all loving. How do we learn to be these things in a hard and tough world? We watch and learn from our Lord, whose actions and teachings were all about humility and justice, gentleness and compassion.
It makes me wonder. Many hardships and burdens come our way throughout life. Some are avoidable, some seem unavoidable, and some in fact are unavoidable burdens.
But to what extent are some burdens made even more heavier, even more unbearable by the reactions of people, the responses to these burdens, when there's not gentleness, when there's pride instead of humility. Jesus seems to be offering to teach us a path of gentleness and compassion and love, a path of true humility of spirit, which can actually make burdens so much lighter than they might otherwise be, and to actually not add to the burdens of others by our selfish responses. I think of a lot of natural disasters.
Some of them are unavoidable. But isn't it true that even in unavoidable situations, there are many things that are done by people of goodwill that actually helps to lighten people's suffering, to ease their burdens and to reach out and help them. Sadly, also, there are many things that people can do in times of disaster, in times of suffering, that actually make the suffering even worse.
I'm thinking of when a natural disaster strikes, people come out and help in any and every way they can, and it inspires us. We see amazing heroism and great practical assistance in times of need, and this lifts our spirits. We see generosity and help at a time that nothing else can be done.
And isn't it also true that in times of disaster and suffering, there can be people who actually make things worse, who just make the whole thing an almost impossible burden by their selfishness or their attitudes or their lack of compassion or empathy. For example, in a disaster, we see some people trying to help and reaching out and making a difference, but then there are people who are looting or taking advantage of others who are suffering. We see people being thoughtless and selfish.
This makes the suffering 10 times worse. We have to ask ourselves, even in an unavoidable disaster, how much of our responses and actions can actually make the whole thing worse or better. Our Lord is seeking to make healing and love out of even the worst situations that occur, and God is constantly at work trying to lighten the burdens of people, and he's asking us to join in this work.
We can help too. By thinking of an illustration, imagine two people are experiencing exactly the same burden, and it's a major burden, a real hardship in their life. Picture these two people with the exact same circumstances.
The only difference is that one of them is extremely proud, unreasonably self-sufficient, refusing to face the truth of their difficulty, railing against every development and turn of bad fortune when it's not possible to avoid it, whilst the other person in the same situation is gentle, humble, accepting of that which cannot be changed, and battling and trying as hard as they can in things that can be changed, and not giving up, but rather surrendering to God's care in a spirit of humility and graciousness and love to all the new situations and circumstances that this person is now facing. Could it not be said that the one who is resisting and railing against it, even against the inevitable, might be putting on themselves an even greater, unbearable burden than the other in the same situation? Perhaps in this sense Jesus means, learn from me, and he opens up his vision, his response to the world in all its unpredictable and capricious turns. A yoke is something also that is used to join two creatures together, so they act as one entity, support and lift each other up, and share the burden so it's distributed more evenly.
Was Jesus saying, join yourself to me, join your hopes and cares, your fears and struggles, your successes and failures, let me work with you as one, and see what wonders will result. I love the meaning of this gospel today. There's a deep and sturdy realism to the gospel message that Jesus offers us.
It's the perfect combination of idealism, but also realism. Jesus doesn't promise an easy ride. He doesn't promise that if we follow his way, he'll make all our burdens disappear.
But he does promise that his way makes the burdens more capable of being transformed by love and service, and easier to carry, no matter how heavy they are. Our Christian joy and hope is not joy born out of denying the reality of the struggles and pains of life. Rather, our joy and peace comes from the fact that we are at rest, we continue to love, even despite or with the tragedies and tensions, the sin and pain of life.
This is the message the world is desperate to hear more than ever before. This is the faith we're uniting to Christ in witnessing in our lives. May God richly bless us and give us the joy, the rest, the peace, the relief that comes with faith in him, and joining ourselves to him, who wants to lift these burdens from us and help us carry them.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
William Barclay - Commentary on Matthews Gospel.
"In Palestine ox-yokes were made of wood; the ox was brought, and the measurements were taken. The yoke was then roughed out, and the ox wigs brought back to have the yoke tried on. The yoke was carefully adjusted, so that it would fit well, and not gall the neck of the patient beast. The yoke was tailor-made to fit the ox.
There is a legend that Jesus made the best ox-yokes in all Galilee, and that from all over the country men came to him to buy the best yokes that skill could make. In those days, as now, shops had their signs above the door; and it has been suggested that the sign above the door of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth may well have been: "My yokes fit well." It may well be that Jesus is here using a picture from the carpenter's shop in Nazareth where he had worked throughout the silent years.
Jesus says, "My yoke fits well." What he means is: "The life I give you is not a burden to gall you; your task is made to measure to fit you." Whatever God sends us is made to fit our needs and our abilities exactly.
Jesus says, "My burden is light." As a Rabbi had it: "My burden is become my song." It is not that the burden is easy to carry; but it is laid on us in love; it is meant to be carried in love; and love makes even the heaviest burden light. When we remember the love of God, when we know that our burden is to love God and to love men, then the burden becomes a song. There is an old story which tells how a man came upon a little boy carrying a still smaller boy, who was lame, upon his back. "That's a heavy burden for you to carry," said the man. "That's no' a burden," came the answer. "That's my wee brother." The burden which is given in love and carried in love is always light."
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A (Sunday, July 5, 2026) (EPISODE- 592)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{Peace and Goodness to you all as we gather - Listening to God's Word.}}
Our God's love and mercy knows no bounds, and so let us recall our sins so as to worthily celebrate this Holy Sacrifice.
Lord Jesus, you healed the sick: Lord, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners: Christ, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength: Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14. "I will praise your name forever, my king and my God"
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matt 11:25). Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth. You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary IV
Eucharistic Prayer I
(theme variation: 1)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
{Peace and Goodness to you all as we gather - Listening to God's Word.)
(pre+post variation: v1-long)
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{heartfelt thanks to you all for uniting in prayer and reflectying upon God's goodness and care.}
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - "Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993). (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John Kelly - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - Shure MV5 Digital Condenser (USB)
Editing equipment:
NCH software - MixPad Masters v10.27. Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 17.42
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor v.6.10.4320
[Production - KER - 2026]
May God bless and keep you.
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