14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Mt 11:25-30

Five-year-old Kevin was busy at the kitchen table with his markers drawing God. Seven-year-old Ciara with all the theological wisdom of First Communion behind her, asserted that nobody knows what God is like. Kevin claimed that they would when he was finished drawing him.

The confidence of the young is disarming. But, seriously, how well does each of us know our God? What qualities of God are uppermost in our prayers and in our hearts? What words do we use to describe him?
Today's gospel is very specific. It highlights the gentleness of God. 'Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest for your soul.' So the message is to grow in appreciation of God's gentleness towards us so that, in turn, we may be gentle towards ourselves and towards others.

Gentleness is born out of appreciation of who and what we are. God sees us as his own, redeemed by his only Son, precious to his eyes, vulnerable, and so he treats us with a kindness that knows no bounds. This is both reassuring and challenging. The reassurance is that God will always treat us with a tenderness that the wounded need and relish. The challenge is for us to do the same both to ourselves and to everyone else in our lives without except-ion. It is the ruling out of exceptions that presents the real challenge.

 

(Commentary by Tom Clancy. Taken from "Preaching the Word", Columba)