Homily: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

July 5, 2026

My dear brothers and sisters, it was one of the most influential Catholic intellectuals and communicators of the twentieth century by name Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen who in 1949 wrote the book ‘Peace of Soul.’ In this book Fulton Sheen explains that every human person longs for peace, but many seek it in wrong places. He argues that wealth, pleasure, power, prestige, material success cannot satisfy the deepest desires of the human heart because human beings are created for God. Archbishop Sheen maintains that true peace can only be found through reconciliation with God, living according to truth, and conforming one’s life to Christ. The major theme of the readings of this fourteenth Sunday is on the peace of soul. Jesus makes it clear that it is in Him that this peace of the soul is to be found. In the very words of Jesus in the gospel reading of today, “come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus does not promise his followers that discipleship means a life free of cross and challenges. In many instances he stated clearly that if you want to be my disciple, you must take up your cross and follow him. We can say that Jesus is rather teaching that Christian ethical standards are like solid rock, even though they may be demanding but they are supremely gratifying. They are like a solid rock on which one can rest the edifice of one’s life and social existence without having any fear of sudden and ruinous collapses. In this direction, experience continues to be the best teacher. In our time, that some tend to see God as irrelevant, a distraction to be left by the side, a time where selfishness, hatred, violence, hardness of heart, war is embraced as the realistic path in the life struggle. The unfortunate outcome is that life continues to be short, nasty, brutish, animalistic, unpleasant and poor. The solution to the moral decay of our time remains a return to God. The solution remains a deliberate effort to pay attention to the divine inner calling in us, the spiritual principle in us that will balance the physical dislocations of earthly life.

That is the point of the prophecy that the prophet Zechariah made to the people of Israel in the first reading of today. Prophet Zechariah was among the prophet that returned with the Israelites after about 70 years of Babylonian exile. What these returnees met in Jerusalem at their return was rubble, total decay, that many of them became despondent and depressed. Imagine if all in Ontario were to be exiled in Asia after a heavy war, and the power stations, malls, houses, gas stations, roads, schools, churches, government offices etc were abandoned for about seventy years and after seventy years, a new generation of Canadians were to return back to Ontario. The condition of the towns and cities will be very scary. It was this situation that the Israelite returnees from exile faced. It was in this their condition that the prophesy of Zechariah came, encouraging them to be focused on God, that the triumphant and victorious king would be coming. Jesus the king indeed came, the end was glorious because God can never disappoint His faithful people. No matter the condition in our life, no matter the condition of our time, if Jesus is the captain of our ship, the end will be very glorious.

I remember this funny advice that a toddler gave to her dad. The toddler said: “Daddy, whenever mum is angry do not explain, explaining only makes it worse, when she is angry, just say, you are right, I hear you my queen,” and her dad asked her, “what if I have a very good point?” The toddler responded, “put that point in your pocket, today is for peace and what you need is peace.” Brothers and sisters today is for peace, what we need is peace of soul, and fullness of that peace can only be gotten in God and not away from God. We remember St Augustine’s saying, our souls are restless until they rest in you, my God. Rest and sleep are most sweet after the most strenuous toil. We can enjoy peaceful rest in God when we labor sincerely for it.