Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, July 5, 2020 EPISODE 239

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, July 5, 2020
EPISODE 239

Readings for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
FIRST READING: Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14. "I will praise your name forever my king and my God"
SECOND READING: Romans 8:9, 11-13
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION, (cf. Matthew 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: Matthew 11:25-30
 

Shutterstock licensed stock photo ID: 251742775. "Rest for the weary-Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." By grace21
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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, July 5, 2020 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ordinary-14a-episode-239  (EPISODE: 239)
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Prologue: There are so many wonderful readings and many of them we know so well,  yet every time we hear them again we can get something new from them – a deeper richness to their timeless message.

For example, in this familiar Gospel, "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 "Chrestos"    which is astounding.  It is so similar to the word Christos, meaning the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah and King.

In the time of Our Lord, people expected that the Messiah was going to be a warrior King who would come with power and force and violently overthrow the occupying forces of the Roman Empire and establish a new Kingdom on earth.  They also believed that this Messiah or Christ would seek retribution upon anyone who had not lived up to God's law and bring down vengeance upon them. Then, along comes Jesus as the true messiah and he is not violent, forceful or military, but he is gentle and humble…  The Christos turns out to be Chrestos…   that is…  "The Christ is gentle."  His burdens on us are light.   This is astounding and beautiful.   Our Lord says,  "learn from me for I am gentle and humble."

Often when we describe a yoke….. or a burden….. these words create the impression of hardship and difficulty……… and yet… it is 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 a person or an animal to lift a weight and carry that weight in such a way that distributes the weight and makes it possible to carry, and tolerable over an extended period of time……..

May God richly bless us and give us the joy, the rest and the relief that comes with this faith…, hope and love.
(Reference: William Barclay - Commentary on Matthew's Gospel).
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Fr Peter Dillon:
I once received what I have come to know as a 'backhanded compliment'. Not long after ordination in my first parish, a well-intentioned parishioner said to me: "Father the thing I like about your homilies is that you don't clutter them up with theology". I think I know what he was trying to say and as I look back over the years since then, I am now convinced that my greatest insights into the nature of God and my relationship with God, did not come from theologians – at least not the classically trained ones. I realise now that I learned more about the incarnation and the redemptive nature of God from people who maybe didn't even realise they were teaching at the time. People who didn't clutter up their lives with profound theological arguments and long treatises on transubstantiation. Their explanations were earthy and practical and not constrained by fear of not being accepted as a credible source of knowledge. They were people whose words and witness made me ask questions about the 'why' and 'how' of God and creation.

The common characteristic of all these people was that they all had simple insights and a sure faith born of experience and a realistic approach to life.

One was a grandparent, another a fond aunt. There was a kitchen worker at the seminary while another a sacristan in a busy parish. All shared a deep theology with great conviction, but in the most simple of words.

Some of their memorable phrases that have stayed with me:
You can't pray away all your problems
Leaving it all to God can lead to laziness
God can't speak to you if you don't shut up for a minute.
Such wisdom from such child-like minds.

I later started to worry that I may have missed out on some of life's great lessons because I was looking for qualifications or an academic acknowledgment instead of lived experience. It started to become clear to me that we don't really learn about God so much as we live God, sometimes by trial and error, but never without getting to know the part of us that connects up with God.

Although Jesus never ran for public office or sought to join any religious community, he had to learn to trust his own lived wisdom. Along the way when he shared that wisdom he was rejected because he was not one of the publically acknowledged authorities. We can imagine that he lived and learned from the simple people in Nazareth. He knew first hand their hardships and he saw that his role to assist them to life those burdens, by reminding them that not all burdens are important and some are mere 'baggage' not 'responsibilities'. But not all people saw his inner purpose of doing the Fathers will. 

Maybe he thought that the rabbis and those who were educated in the word of God would be the first to recognise what he had come to offer. But on many occasions he was very disappointed. What he came to realise is that the Father often overlooks the learned and the clever to settle his favour on the simple, on those who have received no formal training in the Law.

When it comes to revealing who he is the Father looks to people who exercise no power and enjoy no prestige in the community. He looks to people like his disciples.

Remember that in Jesus time there were whole groups of people who were dismissed as sinners because they follow what were regarded as dishonourable callings – people whose lifestyle did not permit them to observe the small print of the Law.

These people were at the bottom of the social heap and were ignored, but Jesus had a word for them and all those who were bowed down by the interpretation of the law. He had no intention of doing away with the law, but he refused to support those who spent their time finding new burdens for broken people.

Saint Peter in Acts 15 also admits that the disciples of Jesus could not bear the full yoke of the Law. He says: "Why should they demand of others that which they have never managed to do themselves?" then a gentle reminder that we believe that we are saved in the same way as the lawmakers are: through the grace of the Lord.

Jesus offers any who were prepared to listen, an invitation to come and learn from him and find rest for their souls and in doing so he makes himself the centre of his own teaching. He is the Wisdom of God, and personal fidelity to him will be the mark of the true disciple. God has chosen him to be the one who enshrines the fullness of revelation and who embodied the new Law of God. When we refer to simple faith we sometimes think that we are 'dumbing down' our belief and practices.

I prefer to think of us as not dismissing people and their experiences as being useless and unworthy. It puts a whole new perspective on who really are the learned and the clever.
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References:
Fr Peter Dillon

Prologue: Fr Paul W. Kelly

Shutterstock licensed stock photo ID: 251742775. "Rest for the weary-Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." By grace21


Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A (Sunday, July 5, 2020) (EPISODE: 239 )
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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{{Shalom (peace)}}

Coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pause and reflect upon our sins, in order to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.
Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations into the peace of God's kingdom: Lord, have mercy// You come in word and in sacrament to strengthen us and make us holy: Christ, have mercy//You will come again in glory with salvation for your people: Lord, have
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary IV
Eucharistic Prayer I
Communion side. pwk: RH
(OPENING THEME VARIATION:  2)
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{{Bless you all and May God's grace guide you each and every day.}}

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
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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. This arrangement from 2007.  

- "Today I Arise" - For Tricia 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. 

-Lenten Hymn: "Have Mercy," inspired by Psalm 50(51). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020
[ Production - KER - 2020] 

-Come Holy Spirit Hymn: inspired by the Hymn by  Rabanus Maurus (9th century). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020. Sound effects by Mark DiAngelo,

May God bless and keep you. 
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