14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30

The “Little Ones”

Open Market, Jerusalem

I don’t care how old we are or how old we feel; there is something about summers, even one as oppressively hot and humid as this one, that brings out the child in all of us.  We become nostalgic; we reminisce and try to recapture those care-free times from the past.  Running through the sprinklers or racing down the slip-n-slide.  Chasing the ice cream truck – haven’t seen one down here in Tennessee!  Riding bikes with our friends around the neighborhood.  Swinging so high the poles came out of the ground.  Picking berries and catching fireflies.  Family vacations, watermelon and lemonade, campfires, sunsets on the beach and endless games of catch or badminton over the fence. 

They were times of innocence and happiness, times when we appreciated the value of friendship and family, when we listened to stories from Papa or great-gramma Mudd and baked cookies with Mom.  But it is only now that we appreciate the value and the memories of being a child, of being a ‘little one,’

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reflects on the “little ones” and the belief that God has hidden things from the wise and the learned and revealed them only to these “little ones”.  Too often, I think, we look on those 2 words as referring to children – that “out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom”.

But perhaps this phrase has a much broader meaning!  What about all the people that society calls “little” – the unimportant, the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, the ignored, the invisible!  These are exactly the people to whom Jesus directed His mission – the poor, the sick, women, the outcasts, the gentiles, the Samaritans.  All those who needed to hear the word of God, to feel His compassion and His love, to appreciate His wisdom.

These are the people who best understood Jesus’ words and message.  These are the people who have no illusions about having wealth or power or influence.  These are not the “wise ones” in society who think they have all the answers. They are not the self-righteous who think they are in control. 

They are the check-out clerks, janitors, the hospital cleaning crew, the grocery store worker, and the animal shelter care-giver.  They are all the service workers – nurses, medical assistants, EMT’s, food pantry workers, the bus driver, the barista at the coffee shop, the security guard, the hotel maid and restaurant cook, the newspaper delivery guy, the mailman and the Fedex guy, that street-corner musician and the baker.  The sandwich vendor and the kid who mows the neighbor’s lawn. These are the Little Ones.  They may struggle to put food on the table, but they still manage to share with others who have nothing.  They are willing to give their clothes to someone who seems to need them more.   These are the little ones who seem to have gotten the message, who share the good news that Jesus came to announce. 

Those are the little ones!  These are the ones that St. Paul speaks of in the 2^nd reading – those who live not in the flesh but in the Spirit!  Those in whom the Spirit of God dwells!  Those who do labor and are burdened but who have put on the yoke of Christ and have found rest. 

Jesus reminds us today - Everyone is important!  Everyone is significant!

But especially the “little ones,” those faithful “un-famous” people, the ones ignored and taken for granted by today’s society, who have heard the wisdom of God, who live by it, and show all of us the way to God- if we only pay attention.

The Lord reminds us today that He lifts up all who are falling, He raises up all who are bowed down.  The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in kindness, good and compassionate to all.