A Contrite and Open Heart

Homily for Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel text is a moment of intimacy and revelation between Jesus and the Father.

The Pharisees of his day prided themselves on their knowledge of the Scriptures and considered themselves experts in divine revelation. Jesus expresses thanks for the fact that God has revealed the divine mystery not to the intellectual elite but rather to the childlike. Jesus uses this image to accentuate the necessity for humility, open-heartedness, and dependence upon God rather than scholarly or intellectual knowledge. This passage challenges the idea that spiritual insight is reserved for the wise and intelligent. The passage highlights the fact that approaching God demands childlike trust rather than intellectual rigor.

Consequently, this passage is important because it reveals the knowledge of the divine is not reserved to those who think of themselves as the entitled rather than developing a heart that is open to God’s word. As the Psalms remind us, “An open and childlike heart, God does not spurn.” This requires that one approach God aware of our dependence upon God for all the blessings that come to us through God’s grace.

As we approach Jesus in the Eucharist today, let it be with a heart that is contrite and loving.