Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Be Yoked to Jesus, and Through Jesus to the Father

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30) has, over the years, been a major topic in biblical studies, particularly regarding the relationship between the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and the Gospel of John. Some older scholars viewed this passage as a “thunderbolt from the sky” because it sounded so much like John. They argued that Matthew and Luke were influenced by Johannine theology. But most modern biblical scholars have rejected that position, suggesting that the passage we read today actually provided the “seed” from which later Johannine Christology grew. It is common knowledge that the Gospel of Matthew stresses the humanity of Jesus, while John’s Gospel stresses his divinity. Yet right here in the middle of Matthew, we see a clear emphasis on Jesus’ divinity. 

The Gospel allows us to overhear a conversation between the Son and the Father. Jesus speaks to his Father and, in the process, reveals his deepest identity within the Holy Trinity. This is what he says: “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 little ones.” This is not merely one holy man speaking to God; rather, it is the very Son of God, the very incarnation of the God of Israel, addressing his Father. I tell you, this opens a window for us to see and know the inner life of God, offering us a glimpse of the kind of conversation that goes on between the Son and the Father. Jesus is not praising his Father for making him popular or for making him the greatest Man ever lived. He is not praising the Father for the knowledge and power he possesses. Rather, he is praising Him for what He has done for others, the little ones. Have you ever praised or thanked God for mercies and blessings He has shown to someone else? When was the last time you did that? 

But what is the thing that has been hidden from the learned and now unveiled to the little ones? It is the identity of the Messiah, the nature of God as Father, and the values of the kingdom, which often turn the values of this world upside down. In Jesus, God has visited his people. Yet the “wise and learned”—the religious leaders such as the Pharisees and scribes—did not recognize Jesus as the Son of God, their Savior and the Savior of the world. Instead, they believed their theological training and rigid religious practices would guarantee their salvation. Jesus is God’s most profound, lavish, and extensive outreach to the human race. From the very beginning, God wanted to give us a share in his life. With the advent of Jesus, God’s plan is coming to fruition. Yet the wise and learned, those who were learned in religious matters and spiritual masters in Jesus’ time, failed to recognize that God’s salvation plan was already being carried out. 

Why are “these things” hidden? They are hidden because the “wise and learned” are often blinded by their reliance on what they have achieved—wealth, power, honor, academic success, connections, etc. They want to run their lives. In contrast, “little ones” (the childlike) acknowledge their helplessness and rely completely on God and God’s grace. On the cross, Jesus gives everything. Even though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself completely for the other. The wise and learned cling to themselves. From Adam and Eve to this day, the fundamental human problem is that we seek everything but God. We strive to fill the ego with stuff: sex, pleasure, power, esteem from others. But this will never, in principle, work, because, as St. Augustine said, we have been wired for God, and God is love. Why are we unhappy? Why is it that no matter what you have achieved, acquired, and procured in life, there seems to be this longing for more? Even if we have too much, that too much is never enough. Why? Because we are wired for God. That more we long for is never found in any of the goods of this world. That more is God alone. Now, there is nothing wrong with having religious knowledge and insight, as long as they lead us toward God. In my pastoral life, I have seen priests and laypeople who attained and acknowledged religious knowledge and insight only for the sake of the name and title. Their extra knowledge of the Bible, theology, the Church, God, the world, etc. did not move a needle in their spiritual life. Rather than being drawn to God, they were drawn away from God. But those who understand these things are “the little ones,” “the inarticulate.” They are dependent on another—God. 

Jesus also says, “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.” What does the Lord mean by this? Many people have some knowledge of God. Muhammad has some knowledge of God. But no one fully and completely knows the Father except the Son. Jesus is not just a Jewish carpenter and rabbi. He is not one more religious figure among the many. He is not offering us a philosophy of God. He is not offering us another clever human articulation of God. He is giving us an inside view. And that’s why we must comply with his compelling invitation: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” This is not an abstract theology; it is all about life and spirituality. Jesus wants us to come to Him so that we, too, can know the Father and be in a joyful relationship with Him. “Come to me, all you who labor…” Here, he is not talking about manual labor per se. He is speaking to those who find life burdensome and difficult, who are not fulfilled. He is speaking to all of us. He is promising us “rest.” By “rest,” he is not talking about relaxation, chilling out on the beach, or lying comfortably on your couch or recliner chair. He is not talking about taking a vacation to Hawaii or to one of the Caribbean Islands. He is not talking about a cruise vacation or being invited to a fancy yacht. Rest here means fulfillment. Rest means the achievement and attainment of joy. That’s what all the saints found. Whenever we hear that someone dies, we often say, “May his or her soul rest in peace.” Right? What we mean when we say that is, “May they find fulfillment and that steady joy that eluded them on earth.” The great illusion of secularism and secular culture is that you don’t need God to be perfectly happy, that all you need to be happy is to fill yourself with the goods of this world— wealth, power, honor, and pleasure. But time and again, this ideology has failed. Joy, perfect joy, will only come when we turn our life over to the one who created us— God. 

More to it, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” meaning be grafted onto me. Be yoked to me because I am yoked to the Father. In those words, Jesus is saying in a different way what he said in John 15:4, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” It is easy to forget the phrase, “and learn from me.” What are we learning from Jesus? Our greatest pursuit in life is happiness and fulfillment, but nothing in this world will ever guarantee it except being yoked to Jesus and, through Jesus, to the Father. 

God bless you!