The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 5, 2020 Cycle A
by Rev. Jose Maria Cortes, F.S.C.E., Chaplain
Saint John Paul II National Shrine
 Washington, D.C.

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Sunday Reading Meditations

God is simple.

Today’s Gospel is an invitation to become simpler. Saint Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian in the history of the Church, says in his writings: “God is simple.”

However, we are complicated.

Complication does not come from God. We create complication. When I was a boy, I used to go fishing with my brothers. Sometimes the fishing line became tangled. I tried to disentangle it and the result was worse. There were moments of desperation until I asked my older brothers to help me. For them, it was very easy to disentangle the lines! In one minute, everything was resolved. They were older and wiser than I.

There is a tendency in us to become entangled. I think it is a common experience that we all have. If we try to untangle knots alone, the situation becomes worse. It is like walking on quicksand: the more we try to free ourselves, the deeper we go.

The symptoms of our complications are our souls’ fatigue and anxiety, which we experience many times.

We need simplification and help with this. Jesus came to this world to simplify us. That is why he invites us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:28–29).

God is simple. The way to simplify ourselves is to approach Jesus, accepting his invitation to come to him.

We can achieve more simplicity through the contemplation of God. Prayer is a very important tool to let the simplicity of God penetrate our lives. Another thing that simplifies us is the experience of forgiveness. Sometimes everything is dark and confusing but we go to confession and everything becomes clear and simple. We also need to find simple people. Holiness and simplicity are very close to each other. Testimony and good advice from simple people help us a lot in simplifying our lives.

Prayer, confession and simple people are the tools that Jesus gives us to simplify ourselves, to untangle life’s knots.

God is simple. We are complicated. However, we can change. It only depends on our accepting Jesus’ invitation.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.”

We ask Jesus to give us humble and simple hearts, and we ask his help in simplifying our lives so that we can find the rest we need for our souls.  Amen.