A Homily - The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading – Jeremiah 20:10-13 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 68(69):8-10, 14, 17, 33-35 ©

Second Reading – Romans 5:12-15 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14, 12

Alternative Acclamation – John 15:26, 27

The Gospel According to Matthew 10:26 - 33 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 

Do not ask God to administer the justice you desire. God, the creator of the universe, God will not intervene on your behalf, and such petitions are an exercise in vanity.

Rather, have faith in God and know divine providence will move all things toward a just end, knowing that God’s justice is patient, it is loving and it is kind; it will come to its fullness in eternity.

This is the faith we are called to as Christians.

Do not look to God for help in this world. God will not help you. You must help yourself, rely on you family, help them in turn, and your friends and your neighbors…even the stranger.

We are meant to help each other.

God has given you the strength to persevere any hardship. God has given you hope to lead you through whatever darkness lies ahead. God has given you the freedom to participate in the furtherance of justice, or to impede it, or to do nothing at all.

Consider the wisdom of the psalmist.

God desires praise and worship more than animal sacrifices, each of these ranks next to nothing compared to God’s desire for justice and compassion, for love and mercy.

Be mindful!

The scope of the creature’s actions and the consequences that flow from sin, cannot exceed the scope of divine intention and the power of grace to heal.

Listen!

Do not repeat the errors of John, correct them.

Each and every person is born a child of God. We are not made into God’s children by any power that comes from within us, neither are we transformed by a power external to us. We come into being as children of God, in the Word, by the Word and through the Word.

The Word we are speaking of is also called the Logos, in Greek. It is the manifestation of divine reason, the rational principle that is at the root of God’s creative purpose in the world. It is the cause of our being, and our final cause.  

God made us, and our status as children of God is as unconditional as God’s love for us.

Remember this and know that there is no deception in God, no falsehood, no fabrication, no prevarication. The divine parent does not lie. Those who claim to speak for the divine must not lie or mislead, cover-up or hide anything in the pursuit of their mission.

Do not repeat the errors of John, but know this:

All human beings are prone to error, when those who have ascended to positions of leadership in Christian communities lie to you, you must reject them. Some will commit errors because they are honestly confused; this is understandable because we are all prone to error.

Many others commit errors that are willful. They know they are lying to you and they do it anyway; they do it for wealth, they do it for power, they do it to hide from their shame…for whatever misdeeds they are planning, have committed already or are in the midst of doing.

Such leaders, have abandoned the way, which calls us to conform to the spirit of truth.

Know this, though we have all forsaken God at one time or another, and though we have all done wrong to our sisters and brothers, our fathers and mothers, God has never forsaken us. God never will.

Consider the gospel reading for today:

The Gospel authors should has left this passage where Jesus left it, with the exhortation to not be afraid.

This is wisdom.

Allow me to repeat this exhortation and take it to heart…Do not be afraid.

The Gospel is not a weapon, it is an open-secretive, it is not cryptic, it is not a demarcation point delineating for the church and its members those who belong to the flock and those wo do not, the insiders from the outsiders or the living from the dead.

It is meant to induce hope, not fear, it is a vehicle for inclusion, not exclusion

The good news is delivered with a spirit of love .

Jesus called everyone to the table; he did not ask for membership cards when he did, or dues at the door, he did not ask anyone to punch their ticket, to present a letter of introduction or a written invitation…he just said come.

Therefore, do not be afraid; come without fear or reservation, come as you are without shame.

The body passes and the spirit lives on.

Know this:

We were not given a vision of eternity, only to be denied it. The purpose of our being here is to prepare for it. God did not create us for the purpose of destroying us. God brought us into life so that we may live.

God’s love flows equally to all people, not one of God’s children is outside of God’s plan for salvation.

This is the gospel.

Declarations and oaths…creeds and decretals, these are the inventions of human beings, take none, make none, either for against Jesus, rather follow the way.

Serve God, through the service you provide to one another, love goodness, seek justice, and exercise mercy in all things.

Walk humbly all the days of your life, express your faith through right action, practice mindful in all things.

Remember this always.

First Reading – Jeremiah 20:10-13 ©

He Has Delivered the Soul of the Needy from the Hands of Evil Men

Jeremiah said:

I hear so many disparaging me, ‘“Terror from every side!”

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’

All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall, ‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error.

Then we will master him and take our revenge!’

But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, mastered, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.

But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice, who scrutinise the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.

Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 68(69):8-10, 14, 17, 33-35 ©

In your great love, answer me, O Lord.

It is for you that I suffer taunts,

  that shame covers my face,

that I have become a stranger to my brothers,

  an alien to my own mother’s sons.

I burn with zeal for your house

  and taunts against you fall on me.

In your great love, answer me, O Lord.

This is my prayer to you,

  my prayer for your favour.

In your great love, answer me, O God,

  with your help that never fails:

Lord, answer, for your love is kind;

  in your compassion, turn towards me.

In your great love, answer me, O Lord.

The poor when they see it will be glad

  and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy

  and does not spurn his servants in their chains.

Let the heavens and the earth give him praise,

  the sea and all its living creatures.

In your great love, answer me, O Lord.

 

Second Reading – Romans 5:12-15 ©

The Gift Considerably Outweighed the Fall

Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter of breaking a law.

Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14, 12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 15:26, 27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Spirit of truth will be my witness; and you too will be my witnesses.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 10:26 - 33 ©

Do Not be Afraid of those Who Kill the Body

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

 

The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)