First Reading • Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm • Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
Second Reading • Romans 8:9, 11-13
Gospel • Matthew 11:25-30
Do you know how long it takes to train a man to be ordained a priest? Usually between five and eight years. Why so long?
First of all, a priest must have a strong spiritual foundation.
During formation, seminarians spend many hours in prayer and spiritual direction, deepening their relationship with God.
They study great spiritual masters such as Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, learning how to grow in love of God through prayer.
Alongside spiritual development comes rigorous intellectual formation. Seminarians study Scripture, theology, Church history, the Sacraments, moral teaching, and many other subjects.
Some even learn Latin, Greek, or Hebrew in order to read biblical texts in their original languages.
Before becoming a priest, a man must have a solid grounding in the rich intellectual tradition of the Church so that he can faithfully teach and preach the Gospel.
Yet this love of learning should not belong only to priests.
Every Catholic should desire to know the faith more deeply.
We should want to understand the Scriptures, the saints, the beauty of the Church’s teachings, her art, music, and history. The deeper we go, the more we discover the richness of our faith.
Today, however, many people think religion is only for the uneducated. Some even claim that religion is opposed to science or that science has made faith unnecessary. Such opinions misunderstand both religion and science.
The Catholic Church has always promoted education and scientific inquiry.
Many of the world’s great institutions of learning were founded by the Church. Faith and science are not enemies.
They answer different questions and both have something important to teach us.
If that is true, why does Jesus say in today’s Gospel: “You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to little ones”?
Is He saying that educated people cannot understand God?
The answer is found later in the Gospel when Jesus says, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”
It is not education that prevents people from knowing God; it is pride. Many educated people remain humble and open to truth.
But others become convinced that they already have all the answers. They look down on others and believe no one can teach them anything.
Those are the people Jesus says cannot understand His teaching. Their minds are closed because they think they already know everything.
To learn from Jesus, we must be meek and humble of heart.
Our minds and hearts must remain open to learning from God and from others. Every person has something to teach us.
No one knows everything. There is always more to learn. Anyone who believes otherwise is mistaken, no matter how many degrees they possess.
All of us can fall into this trap. Have you ever sat through a homily and stopped listening because you thought you had heard it all before?
Have you ever tuned out someone simply because you disagreed with them?
Whenever we do that, we close ourselves to the possibility that Jesus may want to teach us something new.
Jesus also says that the Father reveals Himself to the “little ones.”
In the Gospels, these “little ones” are often His disciples; those willing to leave everything behind to follow Him.
They endured ridicule, hardship, and sacrifice because they placed Jesus first in their lives. Because of their openness and commitment, God revealed Himself to them.
The same is true for us.
No matter how much education we have, it means little unless Jesus has first place in our lives. His teaching is more than information; it is a way of life. To understand it fully, we must live it.
Jesus’ deepest desire is to reveal the Father’s love to us. Everything He says and does points to that love.
We cannot truly understand Jesus without understanding the Father, and we cannot understand the Father apart from Jesus.
Those who remain humble, open, and willing to seek the treasures of heaven above the pleasures of this world are the ones who truly become wise.
