Wednesday 15th week in ordinary time
"Mt 11:25-27"
Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
St Therese of Lisieux explained: "Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity." Sometimes people with great intellectual talents are unable to understand You, Lord. Many people attended Your sermons. Some, like Scribes and Pharisees, were wise; they had studied the Scriptures and knew by heart many of the prophecies. They "understood" all Your words. But they didn't get it. The great and the powerful of Your time, Jesus, didn't follow You, but some fishermen, publicans and a few illiterate men and women did.
Simple saints have turned the world upside down; their memory is alive still, while powerful men, kings, emperors and thinkers have been buried and long forgotten. The virtue of simplicity allows God to do His part. Simplicity prevents saints from pretending that they are someone they are not; it allows them to be seen by men as they are seen by God. They listen to God, and God listens to them.
St Josemaría met a holy woman called Enriqueta, who was mentally ill. The only thing she could do was pray. There was at the time a very anti-Catholic newspaper; so St Josemaría asked Enriqueta to pray for that newspaper to close down. In a few months, without any explanation, the newspaper went bankrupt and closed forever. St Josemaría was sure that the simplicity of Enriqueta was more powerful than the newspaper's editors.
Simplicity and humility attract Our Lord's gaze. The most simple and humble of all was a Woman of Nazareth. She had all the talents that anyone could think of. Yet, she caught the attention of God when she considered herself the "handmaid of the Lord." To her everything was revealed. God liked her simplicity so much that He made her His Mother... and yours and mine. May she help us to take after her in this virtue as well.
