We Are All God's Family

Aug 19: Optional Memorial of Saint John Eudes, priest

Amelia wasn’t able to attend mass last Sunday, so I really wanted to make sure we went on Tuesday, for the Assumption. The thing was, because of her physical therapy, we couldn’t make it to the mass times at our usual parish. Kirrily found us another parish nearby that had a time that worked—St. John Eudes, today’s saint of the day!

Not exactly a coincidence, but close, so I decided to go with the Optional Memorial rather than the usual 19th Saturday readings.

He’s the patron saint of missionaries and prostitutes, which don’t seem related to each other, nor to Amelia’s situation. Just an interesting bit of trivia.

Like Amelia, though, St. Eudes was a miracle baby. His parents had been praying for an end to their infertility, and offered him to God through Mary before he was born.

So please, when you say your prayers today, ask St. John Eudes to intercede for Amelia, and maybe she’ll be a missionary when she grows up!

Reading 1

Eph 3:14-19

Brothers and sisters: I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you, in accord with the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

That first line is a play on words, in Greek. Patēr means “father,” but it’s usually reserved for the father of the gods (Zeus), which the early Christians then applied to God the Father; the word for family is patria. And so Paul is doing a little home-spun etymology, saying every family is named for our Father in heaven.

Paul wants us to know we are children of God. He wants us to know the love of Christ beyond simple knowledge, but be filled with His love. That love, he prays, will overflow into the rest of our life.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3

R.    In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R.    In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,
so is my soul within me.
R.    In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
R.    In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

The psalmist is accepting the Fatherhood of God. If He is our Father, we’re children. It can be hard to accept that we depend on God for everything, like small children depend on their parents. But we do!

Alleluia

See Mt 11:25

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

This whole chapter is about unbelief, from John the Baptist’s followers to the unrepentant towns. While the wise and the learned, the Scribes and Pharisees, have rejected Jesus’ preaching, the childlike have accepted them.

Gospel

Mt 11:25-30

At that time Jesus answered: "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. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

"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."

As discussed yesterday, the Torah contains many, many laws. The Pharisees overburdened their followers with not only these laws, but complex interpretations and corollaries to the law.

Jesus offers us something so simple, a child can follow it—Love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Every child needs love, and must learn to give love in return. That’s true for everyone on a cosmic, eternal scale as well as within our own homes.