Florida Catholic | Sunday Word

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

‘We’ve got wheels!’

July 6, 2008 :: Zec 9:9-10; Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14; Rom 8: 9, 11-13; Mt 11: 25-30

MSGR. MICHAEL V. REED | CATHEDRAL OF THE SACRED HEART, PENSACOLA

It was 12 years ago that I was waiting in the concourse of an airport for a flight, watching people stream by with their briefcases and carry-on luggage. I couldn’t help but notice an elderly gentleman lugging a rather large suitcase – panting, stopping to catch his breath, reconfiguring how he would next carry the luggage, then heaving the luggage off the floor. The man obviously needed help so off I went.

“Sir, can I help you?” I asked. He grunted as I noticed something that would change this man’s life forever. “Sir, you’ve got wheels!” I said.

“What?” he responded.

“You’ve got wheels at the bottom of your suitcase!”

“I do?” he replied with surprise.

“Yes, you’ve got wheels on your suitcase!”

“So, I do!” he finally noticed. He was a new man. He thanked me profusely and with a new demeanor walked as if the burdens of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders.

Our Catholic/Christian Faith is like that: wheels that change our lives forever. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that we can come to him with all our burdens and he will give us rest. He says that we are to embrace his yoke and place it on our shoulders for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Sometimes instead of fully utilizing the graces, blessings and gifts of our faith, we try to carry the burdens, hardships and weariness of life on our own. The too-heavy baggage and unfulfilling products of our labor are too much to handle. Maybe it’s our pride or our stubbornness that stops us from taking to heart the words of Jesus and learning from him. It is certainly nice to be independent, but it’s even better to know that our faith in Jesus is here to help us.

The prophet Zechariah writes after the people of Israel have been set free from their exile in Babylon. There was certainly much reason to rejoice! But after returning to Jerusalem, it was obvious that the burdens and hardships of the people were not completely over.

As subjects of the Persian Empire, the people of Israel still longed for independence, restoration of the kingship of David and the rebuilding of the temple. God’s holy temple was Zechariah’s first priority. Once the temple was rebuilt, proper worship restored and people turned away from wickedness, there would be a new day of rejoicing when a messianic age would dawn upon God’s People.

For St. Paul writing to the Romans, the messianic age came with Jesus as the Christ (Messiah/Anointed One) of God. It would be Christ who would free us from sin and send the Spirit to dwell with us. We would no longer have to live in the flesh, but be given a new life of grace and hope.

St. Paul was keenly aware of it. The prophet Zechariah envisioned the day. And Jesus as “God made man” came to save and deliver us, to point out to us the gift our faith gives us – “We’ve got wheels!”

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