Gospel MT 11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“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 the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
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.”
Reflection:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned.”
My father had a saying, “Don’t ever let your glass get too full.”
As a child, I didn’t know what he was talking about. But, when I grew old enough to understand, he explained, “Jimmy, if you let your glass get too full then you can’t put anymore into it.”
That was the situation in today’s gospel.
Many of “the wise and the learned” could not conceive that Jesus, a wandering preacher from a poor unknown family, could have anything to teach them. They were victims of their own intellect. Their glass was too full.
Years ago, I was exchanging life stories with a friend of mine, a renowned college professor. He said to me, “Wow Jim, you’ve had some extensive life experiences. What would you have ever done if you’d gone to college?”
Laughingly, I replied, “Oh, I probably would have made it in life anyway.” Immediately, he said, “Oh my God, that was such a snobby question.” We shared a laugh over his unintentional offense.
“…….you have revealed them to the childlike.”
To be “childlike” is to be innocent, inquisitive, and accepting. The common people of Jesus’ day were open to his simple lessons: “Love one another, don’t judge and you won’t be judged, and give, looking for nothing in return.”
But, being “wise and learned” does not prelude one from being childlike and open. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the ruling Sanhedrin, was a follower of Jesus, even meeting with him secretly at night to glean Jesus’ wisdom about being “born again.”
Father Richard Sullivan, C.S.C, former president of Stonehill College, was renowned as a great teacher. I have memories of him as an elderly priest deeply engrossed with the man who ran the trash. “What’s this lever do?” he asked.
What made Father Richard a great teacher was that he was an even greater student, learning from everyone he met.
“Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.” ~ Earl Gray Stevens