Revelations
In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus praises and thanks God for the revelation given to him. This revelation proclaims that things were hidden from the wise and the clever but were revealed to mere children”. The “wise and the clever” were the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders and scholars and interpreters of the Law in Jesus’ time. God’s revelation was not given to them because their hearts and minds were not totally open to the will of God. In contrast, Jesus had no personal desires, he had no agenda of his own. He was not interested in his own glory, but only that of God. Jesus had total humility and humility is truth.
In our own lives, we reveal ourselves to very few people. We reveal ourselves only to those whom we trust: those who completely accept and love us. We are more economical with the truth with people who could use that truth against us, or mock our self-revelation. When Jesus speaks of his relationship with the Father, we see that it is a relationship of complete love and trust, a relationship of oneness. Why? Jesus desires only what God desires. His will is pure, and he is God with God’s truth and God’s way to us, the merest of children. How often have our own desires and our own life agendas prevented us from knowing and accepting the fullness of divine truth?
Certainly and especially during the pandemic, we have known the weariness and burdens of life. This Sunday’s Gospel invites us to be one with Jesus, and to emulate his gentleness and his heart’s humility. Only in this way can we receive God’s revelation and knowing what God wishes to reveal to our hearts would lighten our burdens and give rest to our souls. To find rest, we must be willing to accept Jesus, who is eager not only to share our burdens, but also to bring us to the love of the Father.