12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

My dear parishioners,

God Is Good!!! All the Time!!! And All the Time!!! God Is Good!!!

When chosen to serve as a prophet, Jeremiah heard God assure him he had nothing to fear from the people he would confront. But Jeremiah was only human. His book is filled with personal reflections on the hardships he had to face as a spokesman for God. This reading is one of those reflections.

Today’s Gospel comes from Matthew’s “mission discourse” which covers Matthew 10:5–42. The discourse is addressed to the disciples providing guidance for their task of preaching the good news of the kingdom of heaven. The various sayings found in this section are not clearly related to one another. They have to be understood from the perspective of the larger missionary challenges the disciples will have to face.

Fear no one. The opening admonition focuses on fear. The disciples are instructed that they should not fear any human being or situation in which they find themselves. God alone is to be feared. Everything is now to be put out in the open. The earlier practices of secrecy and hiding for fear of being attacked or persecuted have ended. Now the Gospel in its fullness is to be proclaimed far and wide. Everything is to be brought out into the open.

You are valuable in the eyes of God. No doubt the danger involved in missionary activity was real. Christians were neither big nor powerful. They were easy targets for whoever opposed them. Nevertheless, Jesus encourages them to be brave and strong because God will be looking after them. Certainly, if God cares so faithfully for tiny sparrows and protects them from harm, all the more will God care for the disciples. Jesus wants to assure his disciples that God is aware of how difficult and dangerous their mission work is, and that they can trust that God will care for them. It is because of this trust that the disciples need not fear anyone or anything. Even so, bodily harm is not the worst thing that could happen to them. Harm that penetrates to the inner person, the heart and soul, is what is lethal. However, if the disciples trust in God, they will be spared the threats against the heart and soul.

Rewards and punishments. Those disciples who are courageous and acknowledge their discipleship to Jesus will be rewarded by being acknowledged before God. Those who deny Jesus will be denied by God. This was always a concern for the disciples. Apostasy was the great sin. It was the temptation that Christians asked to be delivered from. To be strong in the face of persecution required deep faith and a strong trust in Jesus.

 

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius