Deacon Tom Anthony

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 94

Reading 1 Jer 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:
"I hear the whisperings of many:
'Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!'
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.'
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
for he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!"

Responsorial Psalm Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my children,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!''
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Reading 2 Rom 5:12-15

Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.

Alleluia Jn 15:26b, 27a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord;
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel Mt 10:26-33

Jesus said to the Twelve:
"Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father."

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
 As Christians and Children of God, we need to remind ourselves that we are indeed walking with Jesus Christ. I feel that we can all remember times in our lives when we have felt abandoned by those who we thought were closest to us or trusted the most. We were disappointed and betrayed by the actions of another person that we expected more from. The emotional scars left by such actions take a very long time to heal. Unfortunately, what has been described happens far too often. We are all broken and not perfect. Whatever burdens and challenges we face are brought into every relationship and interaction that we participate in. What results is a mixture of positive and negative experiences which will influence how we look and interpret events. This reality tends to frustrate us as our expectations commonly are set higher than the results that we witness. In our humanness, we can approach our relationship the same way with Jesus Christ. We limit Him and ourselves in the interactions we have. The hurt and pain we have experienced in our human relationships are automatically applied to our relationship with Jesus. What we quickly forget is that Jesus Christ is perfect and that if we only accept Him for who He is there will be no disappointments or pain.
In the Gospel Reading today, Jesus reminds us just how much God loves us. Each one of our hairs on our head are counted. Take a moment to contemplate this: God loves us so much that He knows everything about us. Even the most unimportant thing about us, such as how many hairs are on our head, does not escape His knowledge of us. Even more, He feels what we feel and understands the struggles that we face. In the face of these challenges, we are reminded that He will never abandon us. There should be no fear of what is to come for God is with us. The prophet Jeremiah describes God as a mighty champion standing at his side knowing that the threats of death and imprisonment would not come to fruit because God was with Him. As Christians, we are all protected and valued in the same way. We all have a champion in God and He is ready disrupt all who oppose us. It is up to us to embrace this relationship and treat it with the importance and trust that it deserves. The only disappointments and failures that will result from this relationship will be from us. It is our responsibility to keep our focus and determination, modeling our love for God by the example He set by first loving us.
Jesus Christ challenges us to love Him and build up His kingdom. He tells us to shout out from the rooftops what we know and what we believe. We need to have full confidence in what has been revealed to us and what we know is true. When we start to proclaim our faith and live our faith, good things will start to happen. We will develop the capability to force out all the negative elements of our life and it will be replaced fully with the love of Christ. It will be like the removal of a dam that has been forcing back the natural flow of water. In this case, our dam has been preventing the free flow of Living Water from Jesus Christ.
Jesus has told us: “Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” The structure of the relationship is already in place. Jesus has offered everything. He is now waiting for us to accept His offer. When we do accept this offer our relationship with Him will affect all other relationships we are involved in. We will see things through Jesus and will act accordingly. Our brokenness will be healed and in turn we will be able to heal all those broken, disappointing relationships we have been involved in. In the end, it must be asked: “What are we waiting for?”

Deacon Tom