Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Homily)
June 13, 2021 5:30 pm · Sergio Muñoz Fita
In all the Masses of this weekend and the next two weekends, I would like to take the liberty to use these homilies to speak of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus whose solemnity we celebrated on Friday and to whom this month of June is dedicated.
Devotion to the Heart of Christ is not just another devotion: the Church calls it "a summary of all our religion" (Haurietis Aquas 15), because it is the one that moves us most gently, and at the same time most ardently, to love of our Lord. It is impossible to say everything we could say in the space of even three homilies, so I would like to focus on three Gospel passages that speak of the Heart of Jesus. I do so because it has been said that this devotion is not based on Sacred Scripture and that is simply and categorically false. The foundations of this way of living the faith are found in the Word of God itself.
For this Sunday, let’s look at the Lord's words in the Gospel of St. Matthew (11:28-30): “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
In this text, two fundamental ideas appear: the first is an invitation to learn from Jesus, to imitate him. The desire to imitate Christ is fundamental in the Christian life, but the imitation of the Lord cannot be a romantic imitation of the material aspects of his life. It is not a matter of living in the Holy Land, or of wearing tunics and sandals, or of growing a beard. It is impossible for us: none of us was born in a manger, nor did we spend our childhood in a carpenter's workshop, nor can we walk the same paths that the Lord trod. If that were what Christian imitation consisted of, there would always be an abyss, a disconnection between Him and us.
On the contrary, what Jesus asks us to imitate is his Heart, his affections and his virtues. "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart". The Lord here is pointing to the imitation of his virtues. The Heart of Jesus is what gave unity to the whole of the Lord's life. From the first moment of the Incarnation, Jesus lived in a continuous offering of himself to the Father. It is these attitudes and virtues that we must learn from Christ. He expressly mentions meekness and humility, but let us not forget that, in all cultures, the heart is the symbol of love, so it is also necessary to imitate Christ in his love. This is to say, that in our imitation of Christ, we must not go "off the beaten track", but we must get to the root of the Lord's behavior, his Heart, a Heart that is full of an infinite and inexhaustible love. From that Heart springs all that Jesus accomplishes.
In Hebrew culture, the heart is not only a symbol of love: it is also a symbol of the interior life. The interior life of the Heart of Jesus is his intimate dialogue with the Father, and from it flows, as from a fountain of living waters, all that he is and does.
The first idea of this Gospel passage is that of the imitation of the Heart of Jesus. In St. Matthew’s text, however, we are not only told of this imitation, but in addition, the Heart of Jesus appears as the place of rest. Are you tired? If you are, listen to these words today: "Come to me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.” In our intimacy and in our relationship with Christ, we need to lay our head spiritually on his Heart, just as St. John did in a physical way at the Last Supper. Jesus' love for me should be the rest on which I lean, in which I find refuge, comfort, and understanding. When I am tired, overwhelmed, exhausted, worn out, discouraged, my prayer and my intimacy with Christ must consist in reclining in his Heart and finding there, in his bosom, rest and strength.
Let us remain with these reflections this week. As St. Paul told us today in the second reading, let us seek to please the Father. For this, to please God, let us seek to imitate the virtues of the Heart of Jesus, especially in meekness, humility and love. May the Heart of the Lord be truly the place of our rest, particularly in the mystery of the Eucharist where we find our refuge, our solace, and our strength.