Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

 

The Gospel today is composed of only three verses which form part of a brief literary unit, in which Jesus thanks the Father for having revealed the wisdom of the Kingdom to the little children and He has hidden it from the doctors and the wise.  

 

The wise, the doctors of that time, have created a system of laws, they thought that God demanded this observance from the people. But the law of love, which Jesus has revealed, 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! The simple and poor people understood Jesus’ way of speaking and rejoiced.  The wise said that Jesus was in error.  

 

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 and 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.    

 

Thus, Jesus asks people to learn from Him, who knows by experience what takes place in the heart of the people who suffer. He not only announced the Good News of the Kingdom;  He Himself was and continues to be a living sign of the Kingdom. 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.