The praise of the father

Today’s Gospel talks about God the Son praising God the Father, which truly is one of the great mysteries of humankind… at least in the world of Christianity because Christians truly believe in the triune God or the Holy Trinity… that we have One God in Three Persons… God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Many theologians through various times have explained this mystery according to what they think it really is. But for as long as we live here on this earth… we can only fully comprehend this mystery when our soul departs from our bodies and we get to see God face to face. You can read this gospel in Matthew 11: 25-30.

“[On one occasion,] 25 Jesus said, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

28 Come to me; all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

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Picture yourselves as amongst the disciples when suddenly as if in a trance, our Lord Jesus Christ prays to his Father and praises him… and then you get to learn from his exact words, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Then you will get to understand what Jesus said in the sentence before this… “For although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

For parents or grandparents… give yourselves a little time to ponder and study the movements of a child and you will see only innocence, which has become absent in adults. When did we lose this innocence? At what age, I really don’t know, but I would like to believe that when we started to learn things about life… slowly daily life sliced away our innocence until one day, though we are still unaware of it…our innocence is lost forever!

Let me bring your thoughts back to the first book in the Bible in Genesis when God created Man from his own image using soil or earth matter as the foundation for our being to remind us that we were truly made from dust. Later God found man wanting and needing a companion or a helper, so he created woman also in his image, not from soil…but from the ribs of Adam the first man. Again… it was never about Adam and Steve…but Eve!

We’d never know how long Adam & Eve lived in paradise, but those were the days of innocence when both man and woman lived in their nakedness. They weren’t shy about this because there was no one to tell them to cover themselves. But then the inevitable came…when Eve tempted by the serpent made Adam eat from the forbidden fruit of life, they did not only lose their status to live in paradise, they also lost their innocence… and soon, Eve was ashamed for being naked.

A child is often times seen naked and he or she is unmindful about these things because of their innocence. The only time that the child starts covering himself is when he gets older and soon… has to cover up in shame. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ emphasized to his disciples when he said, “you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” What is required of us Christians is to have that childlike faith in God, a faith that puts all our trust in God no matter what. It is when you question the teachings of the Catholic Church and do not obey them when you get yourself in trouble…not with the church but with God himself.

Finally on the last paragraph, our Lord says to all of us, 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.”

To many Christians, especially to us Filipinos, this scripture passage reminds us of that song by Basil Valdez “Lift up your Hands” wherein he uses this passage as part of his lyrics. This was a great song indeed, but for us Catholics we must emphasize on the words, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves.” Humility is the key to our communion with God. Did he not say in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth?” Yes learn more about humility, meekness and having a childlike faith and God will always be with you.

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