Reflection on the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings offer comfort, even joy. 0ur savior, our teacher, has come to us, not just riding on a donkey but riding on the foal of a donkey. He is not what we expect, but he has come for us, not for the high and mighty. It gives me joy that we don’t have a triumphant God but a God who arrives on a baby donkey.

Paul tells us to focus on the spirit, not the flesh. At first take, that’s not really so helpful. We are surrounded by human suffering, and our government is making it worse, a lot worse. Meanwhile, Paul says the Spirit of God lives in us. I’m reading Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad,” and the horrors of slavery, of the suffering of the flesh, are vivid, but Whitehead gives spirit to the slaves. It is their story, not an abstract news report. Perhaps that’s what Paul knew, that despite the sorrows and pains of our fleshly existence, our human spirit can rise triumphant.

That’s the point of this weekend, too, of the Declaration of Independence, that we have dignity, that we have rights that are unalienable. Alien is the root of that word, meaning that our rights are not foreign, but they are intrinsic to us. No matter the horrors we inflict on one another, it is not the sufferings that define us, but our repentance and our life in the spirit.

Paul just took me on a path I hadn’t imagined when I first read today’s Scripture. I was so taken by Jesus on a donkey and by his words. Let me read them again: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is Jesus’ promise, his invitation, in the midst of human misery. And this invitation of Jesus is a personal invitation. Plenty of times Jesus condemns unjust systems. But not today. Today the call is simple, made directly to us. Reject fame and riches. Live in the spirit, says Paul. Choose me, says Jesus, choose to follow my way and you’ll find it to be easy. Like the little boy said, he’s not heavy, he’s my brother.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls.”