14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Catholics need to be alert, in contemporary culture particularly, about slipping into Deism. This type of religion denies the possibility of revelation and tends to think of God in terms of a nebulous divine energy. In the early centuries this was expressed in Gnosticism and in the present day by movements such as Unitarianism and Theosophy. Here Jesus is merely a teacher. He has a higher wisdom that emanates from the divine and is not expressed in his humanity. Today's Gospel tells us otherwise. Jesus reveals a God whom he refers to as "my Father." He says: " 'All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son'..." (Mtt 11: 27) This is an exclusive relationship which finds expression in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. We affirm this every time we pray the Creed at Mass. It is Jesus who reveals the truth about God in his own person. Jesus tells Philip elsewhere: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (Jn 14: 9) What is amazing, however, is that Jesus does not keep this relationship to himself. He invites us to know the Father through him: " '... and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.' " (Mtt 11: 27) This is not a barren intellectual exercise. It bears fruit in believers of consolation, mercy and peace as they accept the invitation to participate in God's interior life, as revealed by the Son: " 'Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' " (Mtt 11: 28-30) The process of divinization this relationship initiates, St Paul tells us, is brought about through the Holy Spirit: "If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through the Spirit that dwells in you."  (Rm 8: 11)