I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth

4 OCTOBER (Mt 11,25-30)

The Psalm invites the pious and faithful believer in God to give thanks to his Lord, to praise and bless him for his goodness. His love is always and forever. Never will it fail. It precedes every invocation by the creature. Yet man has not even been aware of the gravity of his sin and the Lord precedes him with his love, his mercy, his invitation to let himself be reconciled, and forgiven.

The Lord’s love is liberation, salvation, redemption, security, care, and defense. It is a victorious love against all the enemies of his people. History is the fruit of this love. If there was not this love to lead our history, it would be very different. It would be of defeat and not of victory, of death and not of life, of enmity and not of communion, of division and not of unity, of slavery and not of freedom.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, For His loving kindness is everlasting; To Him who made the heavens] with skill, For His loving kindness is everlasting; To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His loving kindness is everlasting; To Him who made the great lights, For His loving kindness is everlasting: The sun to rule by day, For His loving kindness is everlasting, The moon and stars to rule by night, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And brought Israel out from their midst, For His loving kindness is everlasting, With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His loving-kindness is everlasting, And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His loving kindness is everlasting; But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His loving kindness is everlasting; To Him who smote great kings, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And slew mighty kings, For His loving kindness is everlasting: Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And Og, king of Bashan, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And gave their land as a heritage, For His loving kindness is everlasting, Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Who remembered us in our low estate, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His loving kindness is everlasting; Who gives food to all flesh, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His loving kindness is everlasting. (Psalm 136 (131) 1-26).

Jesus praises and blesses the Father for a new reason, because the history he is living is new. The Father is blessed, praised, exalted, thanked because he concealed the mystery of his life to the learned, the wise and intelligent of this world; and has instead revealed it to the children, the simple, the humble of the earth, to all those who made themselves available to welcome his truth. Never might a proud heart welcome the revelation of the Lord. On the contrary, the humble heart is constant prayer for the Lord to manifest himself.

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

The revelation does not descend directly from heaven upon every mind, every heart. It is given by God only through Christ Jesus, constituted by the Father only mediator for the gift of himself to every man, a gift of grace, truth, knowledge, eternal life, forgiveness, reconciliation, blessing, consolation, rest, comfort, support, defense, and everything else necessary to man for his life. Everything is from Christ Jesus, in Him, for Him. Nothing is without him, outside of him. Jesus is the one and only path to the knowledge of the Father. Where Christ is refused, God is not known according to fullness of truth. Without the fullness of truth, there is not even fullness of salvation. There is a salvation without truth and therefore useless, ineffectual. Without the truth of God, man is not a real man.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints make us humble and pure at heart.