Sunday:       14 TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Date:         JULY 4, 1999
Year:         A
The readings: [Zech. 9:9; Rom: 8:9, 11-13; Mt. 11:25-30]
The message:  IN JESUS YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1304

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Good morning to all who are faithful children of God. It is always a joy to see your attendance at the celebration of the Holy Mass to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and to hear the spoken Word of God so your hearts may be strengthened in the Lord. In today's "Opening Prayer," we learned that the Heavenly Father raised a fallen world through the obedience of Jesus. We asked God to free us from sin and to bring us a joy that lasts forever. In other words, Jesus is our hope of finding rest for our souls.

In the First Reading from the Book of Zechariah, we heard the prophecy that promised the coming of our King who would arrive in Jerusalem, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. In fulfillment of what had been spoken through the prophet Zechariah, this event took place when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion. [Mt. 21:5; Jn. 12:15] This event identified Jesus as the one who was to rule as the King of kings in the spiritual Jerusalem from above. [Gal. 4:25-6].

The spiritual Jerusalem is the city that you have entered when you received the Sacrament of Baptism in the Holy Catholic Church. Through Baptism, you entered Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, where innumerable angels are in festal gathering and where the assembly of the firstborn are enrolled in Heaven. It is where God is the judge of all and where the spirits of the righteous are made perfect. [Heb. 12:22-3]

When did the new Jerusalem descend on earth? That answer is found in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. Jesus ordered His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. [Acts. 1:4] "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from Heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." [Acts. 2:1-4]

The Apostle John describes this event in the Book of Revelation where he says, "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the Throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them.'" [Rev. 21:2-3]

Since that day, God has been dwelling among men. While God now sits on His invisible Throne in the spiritual Jerusalem, His visible work is seen in Vatican City, the seat of the Holy Catholic Church that holds the Keys to the Kingdom of God. And, it must not be forgotten that His physical presence is seen in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Having been born again through the Sacrament of Baptism, you are not in the flesh anymore. You are in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.

As our mother Church teaches us, "Christ is the Mediator and the way of salvation. He is present to us in His Body which is the Church. He Himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it." [Catholic Catechism # 846]

In simple words, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church for those who know the teachings of Jesus and still refuse to enter and remain in the one and only Body of Christ that has been instituted on earth by Christ Himself.

Those who stay outside the Church are denying themselves the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus clearly stated that the Holy Eucharist is His Body. He also clearly stated that His Body is the Bread of life. Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, you maintain your ongoing righteousness before God. The Holy Eucharist is your assurance that your newly born spirit of the godly seed will inherit the Kingdom of God as a child of God.

If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies by His indwelling in you. But to continue to dwell in you, you must welcome the Holy Spirit. You must have faith in Christ. You must have received the Sacrament of Baptism. You must have a living faith by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And you must receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the living bread of life, on a regular basis.

Those who never participate in the celebration of the Holy Mass or only go once a year, surely, they cannot be in a state of grace. How could they be in a state of grace when they refuse to participate in the celebration of the Holy Mass? While we are present here in our physical bodies, partaking in the Holy Mass, in spirit, we are celebrating in the New Jerusalem in the presence of Jesus. We are participating in a great feast, surrounded by the Virgin Mary, the saints and the angels. This is the mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ.

When Jesus thanked the Father, the Lord of Heaven and earth, for revealing the hidden things to infants, He was talking about what I just finished telling you. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. You will find rest for your souls." A lot of you try to explain this with a worldly mind. The Words of the Bible cannot be explained with a worldly mind. They can only be explained by a spiritual mind because the Word of God is spiritual in nature. The rest that Jesus is speaking about is the inner spiritual joy and peace that you feel when you are in the presence of Jesus. It is a rest that can only be enjoyed when your spirits are in the presence of Jesus, when they enjoy the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus finished by telling you that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When you live by the spirit, the gift you have received in the Sacrament of Baptism, you think spiritually. When you think spiritually, you are no longer burdened by the worldly ways because you are walking your living faith and hope with a spiritual heart.

To explain this, while the worldly heart seeks to accumulate, the spiritual heart gives freely. While the worldly mind holds grudges, the spiritual mind forgives. While the worldly way avoids the Church, the spiritual way cherishes the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Endless such comparison can be made as you are well aware.

My brothers and sisters, seek to walk in the spirit in all times. Seek to worship God in spirit. Seek to place God first in your lives. Love your neighbours as you love yourselves. Seek to walk with the indwelling Holy Spirit who is your guide in all things. If you do these things, in Jesus, you will find rest for your souls.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." [Zech. 9:9]

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Second Reading...

"But you are not in the flesh: you are in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you." [Rom. 8:9, 11-13]

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Gospel Reading...

"At that time Jesus said, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'" [Mt. 11:25-30]

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