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Lectio Divina (July 16)

This document provides a summary and reflection on Matthew 11:28-30. It discusses how Jesus invites the weary and burdened to find rest in him, and how his yoke is easy and burden light. The reflection notes that Jesus taught the wisdom of God to the common people while it was hidden from the religious scholars of the time. It also examines how Jesus welcomed children and the excluded, and how communities can offer rest to the marginalized today despite criticisms.

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Philip Nanalig
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161 views

Lectio Divina (July 16)

This document provides a summary and reflection on Matthew 11:28-30. It discusses how Jesus invites the weary and burdened to find rest in him, and how his yoke is easy and burden light. The reflection notes that Jesus taught the wisdom of God to the common people while it was hidden from the religious scholars of the time. It also examines how Jesus welcomed children and the excluded, and how communities can offer rest to the marginalized today despite criticisms.

Uploaded by

Philip Nanalig
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lectio Divina: Matthew 11:28-30

Lectio Divina
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer
God our Father, Your light of truth guides us to the way of Christ. May all who follow Him
reject what is contrary to the Gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 11:28-30


Jesus said: "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."

3) Reflection
• The Gospel today is composed of only three verses (Mt 11:28-30) which form part of a
brief literary unit, one of the most beautiful ones, in which Jesus thanks the Father for
having revealed the wisdom of the Kingdom to the little children and because He has
hidden it from the doctors and the wise (Mt 11:25-30).  In the brief commentary which
follows we will include the entire literary unit.
• Matthew 11:25-26: Only the little children accept and understand the Good News of the
Kingdom. Jesus recites a prayer: “I thank You Father, Lord of Heaven and of earth, for
hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little
children.” The wise, the doctors of that time, have created a system of laws which they
imposed on the people in the name of God (Mt 23:3-4). They thought that God demanded
this observance from the people.  But the law of love, which Jesus has revealed to us, said
the contrary.  What is important in order to be saved is not what we do for God, but what
God, in His great love, does for us! God wants mercy and not sacrifice (Mt 9:13). The
simple and poor people understood Jesus’ way of speaking and rejoiced.  The wise said
that Jesus was in error.  They could not come to understand His teaching.  “Yes, I praise
you! He praised the Father that the little children understand the message of the Kingdom
despite it being hidden from the wise and the learned! If they want to understand it they
have to become the pupils of the little children!  This way of thinking and of teaching
makes people feel uncomfortable.
• Matthew 11:27: The origin of the new Law: the Son knows the Father. What the Father has
to tell us He has given to Jesus, and Jesus reveals it to the little children, so that they may
be open to His message. Jesus, the Son, knows the Father.  He knows what the Father
wanted to communicate to us, when many centuries ago He gave His Law to Moses.
Today, Jesus is teaching many things to the poor and to the little children and, through
them, to all His Church.   
• Matthew 11:28-30: The invitation of Jesus which is still valid today.  Jesus invites all
those who are tired to go to Him, and He promises them rest.  In our communities today,
we should be the continuation of this invitation which Jesus addresses to people who were
tired and oppressed by the weight of the observance asked by the laws of purity.  He
says, “Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Many times, this saying has
been manipulated, to ask people for submission, meekness and passivity. Jesus wants to
say the opposite. He asks people not to listen to “the wise and learned,” the professors of
religion of that time, and to begin to learn from Him, from Jesus, a man who came from
Galilee, without higher instruction, who says He is “meek and humble of heart.” Jesus does
not do as the scribes, who exalt themselves because of their science, but He places Himself
at the side of the people who are exploited and humiliated. Jesus, the new Master, knows
by experience what takes place in the heart of the people who suffer.  He has lived this well
and has known it during the thirty years of His life in Nazareth.
•  How Jesus puts into practice what He taught in the Discourse on the Mission. Jesus has a
passion: to announce the Good News of the Kingdom. He had a passion for the Father and
for the people of His country who are poor and abandoned.  There, where Jesus found
people who listened to Him, Jesus announced the Good News, in any place: In
the synagogues during the celebration of the Word (Mt 4:23), in the houses of friends (Mt
13:36); walking along the way with the disciples (Mt 12:1-8); along the shore of the
sea, sitting in the boat (Mt 13:3); on the Mount from where He proclaims the Beatitudes
(Mt 5:1); in the  squares and in the cities, where people would bring the sick to Him (Mt
14:34-36). Also in the Temple of Jerusalem, during the pilgrimage (Mt 26:55)!  In Jesus
everything is revelation of everything which He bore inside Himself! He not only
announced the Good News of the Kingdom;  He Himself was and continues to be a living
sign of the Kingdom. In Him we see clearly what happens when a human being allows God
to reign in his life. Today’s Gospel reveals the tenderness with which Jesus welcomes the
little children. He wanted them to find rest and peace. And because of this choice of His for
the little children and the excluded, He was criticized and persecuted. He suffered very
much! The same thing happens today. When a community tries to open itself to be a place
of welcome and consolation for the little children and the excluded of today who are the
foreigners and the migrants, many people do not agree and criticize. 

4) Personal questions
• Have you ever experienced the rest promised by Jesus?
• How can the words of Jesus help our community to be a place of rest for our life?
• How can one be meek and humble while at the same time striving for promotion or
advancement at work or in the community?
• To follow Jesus requires radical change. How can this be an easy yoke or a light burden?  

5) Concluding Prayer
In You is the source of life, by Your light we see the light. Continue Your faithful love to those
who acknowledge You, and Your saving justice to the honest of heart. (Ps 36:9-10)

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