Let us begin in earnest to work out our salvation, for no one will do it for us, since even He Himself, Who made us without ourselves, will not save us without ourselves.Have recourse trustfully to God’s loving kindness and He will not forsake you, for He longs to bestow His graces. Though you may have had the misfortune to offend Him, He is always ready to receive you, provided you return humbly to Him. – St Margaret Mary Alacoque
Gospel Reading : Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.
All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What do the Fathers say?
St John CHRYSOSTOM. That these things are revealed to the one is matter of joy, that they are hid from the other not of joy, but of sorrow; He does not therefore rejoice on this account, but He rejoices that these have known what the wise have not known.
St HILARY. The justice of this the Lord confirms by the sentence of the Father’s will, that they who disdain to be made babes in God, should become fools in their own wisdom.
Pope St GREGORY the Great. Here we have a lesson in humility, that we should not rashly presume to discuss the counsels of heaven concerning the calling of some, and the rejection of others showing that that cannot be unrighteous which is willed by Him that is righteous.
St JEROME. In these words moreover He speaks to the Father with the desire of one petitioning, that His mercy begun in the Apostles might be completed in them.
St AUGUSTINE. If Jesus has aught less in His power than the Father has, then all that the Father has, are not His; for by begetting Him the Father gave power to the Son, as by begetting Him He gave all things which He has in His substance to Him whom He begot of His substance.
And because their substance is inseparable, it is enough sometimes to name the Father, sometimes the Son, nor is it possible to separate from either His Spirit, who is especially called the Spirit of truth.
The Father is revealed by the Son, that is, by His Word. For if the temporal and transitory word which we utter both shows itself, and what we wish to convey, how much more the Word of God by which all things were made, which so shows the Father as He is Father, because itself is the same and in the same manner as the Father.
We must understand that both the Father and the Son Himself are revealed by the Son, inasmuch as He is the light of our mind. For the Father declares Himself by His Word, but the Word declares not only that which is intended to be declared by it, but in declaring this declares itself.
St MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE . Remember that the divine Heart of Jesus says to you: ‘Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of Heart.’ If you would be His true friend and disciple, you must strive to make your heart like unto His in gentleness, patience, and humility.
The Sacred Heart is an inexhaustible fountain of grace, but its first gift to us is the grace to become little, meek, and humble, after the pattern of Our Saviour Himself.
If you are overwhelmed by sadness or weighed down by your cross, go and plunge your soul into the divine ocean of the Sacred Heart; there you will discover a treasure that will dispel all your heaviness of heart and dejection of mind.
Sources:
Bible readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Second Catholic Edition, copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Quotes of the Fathers from:
Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea Translated by St John Henry Newman
Letters of Margaret Mary Alacoque
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