Daily Gospel Reflection for July 16, 2014

Today's Gospel: Matthew 11:25-27

I thank you Father that you have hidden these things from the learned and the wise, and revealed them to the childlike.

Is it that God is trying to keep smart people out of Heaven?  By no means!

So often, though, the "wisdom of the age" is directly contrary to God's Wisdom.  The better we are at succeeding on the world's terms -- gathering honors and prestige and attention for ourselves -- the more deeply we are invested in ideas and habits that aren't at all what God wants for us.

As a child, we learn what we're taught.  When we have nothing to lose, no particular notion of what's best, it's much easier to listen to God.

As an adult, it's hard to examine my life and see the fortress walls against the Gospel behind which I find my comfort.  Our legitimate Christian vocation can obscure our attachments:

Am I working hard to provide for my family, or am I living for a career?

As a wife and mother, am I enjoying the simple pleasure of dressing in a manner befitting my station in life, or have I been pulled into vanity and fashion in a way that's contrary to my vocation as a Christian?

Are my politics and ideals formed by the Gospel, or by what I just know has to be the truth because it makes sense to me?

We all have these barriers -- earwax of the soul, keeping us from hearing Christ.  As a Christian, my challenge is to root them out one by one, until I'm that little child willing to hear everything Jesus has to say, and not just the parts that suit me.

Ponder:

Imagine sitting down with a Catholic friend from a completely different corner of the Church.  Someone whose spirituality and lifestyle and politics are markedly different from yours.  What would your friend say you're doing well in your pursuit of the Gospel?  In what parts of your life would your friend gently nudge you to open up to God's leading?

Pray:

Dear Lord, I want to be a follower of You, not a follower of me.  Open my ears to hear You.  Let me be a little child on your lap, listening to you and trying to please you in everything I do.  Amen.

Copyright 2014 Jennifer Fitz