XII Sunday of Ordinary Time

Reading the book of Jeremiah 20, 10-13

Jeremiah said:
I hear people’s accusation:
“‘Pavor-en-torno’,
give it away, we’re going to give it away.”
My friends stalked my miser:
“Let’s see if, deceived, we subdued him
and we can get back at him.”
But the Lord is my strong advocate:
they chase me, but they stumble helplessly.
They will end up ashamed of their failure,
with eternal blush that will not be forgotten.
Lord of the universe, who examines the honest
and you probe the bowels and the heart,
May I see your vengeance upon them,
for I have entrusted you with my cause!
Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord,
that frees the poor man’s life
from the hands of wicked people.

Psalm

Exit 68 R/. Lord, let your great goodness listen to me.

For you I have endured affronts,
shame covered my face.
I’m a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner for my mother’s children.
Because I am devoured by the zeal of your temple,
and the affronts with which they hold you fall on me. R/.

But my prayer is addressed to you,
Lord, on the day of your favor;
let your great kindness listen to me,
may your faithfulness help me.
Answer me, Lord, with the goodness of your grace;
for your great compassion, turn to me. R/.

Look at him, the humble, and rejoice;
seek the Lord, and he will revive his heart.
That the Lord listens to his poor,
does not despise their captives.
Raise it heaven and earth,
the waters and how much it bursts into them. R/.

Second Reading

Reading the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans 5, 12-15

Brothers:
Just as sin entered the world for a man, and for sin death, and thus death spread to all men, for all sinned.
Well, until the law came, there was sin in the world, but sin was not imputed because there was no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even those who had not sinned with a transgression like Adam’s, who was a figure to come from.
However, there is no relationship between crime and gift: if all of them died for the crime of one, the greater the grace of God and the gift bestowed under a man, Jesus Christ, have overflowed upon all.

Gospel of the Day

Reading the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 10, 26-33

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid of men, for nothing is undercover, that is not discovered; nor anything is hidden, that is not known.
What I tell you in the dark, say it to the light, and what I say to your ear, pre-direct it from the roof.
Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but they can’t kill the soul. No; theme that can lead to soul and body doom in the “gehena”. Don’t you sell a couple of sparrows for a penny? And yet not a single one falls to the ground without being arranged by the Father of heaven. Well, you even the hair on your head is known. So don’t be afraid: you’re worth more than a lot of sparrows.
Whomever declares himself for me before men, I too will declare myself for him before my Father who is in heaven. And if one denies me to men, I too will deny it before my Father who is in heaven.”

Certainly the darkness of fear warms and paralyzes our lives on so many occasions and in many ways, even in our present.

For three times we have heard Jesus, in today’s Gospel, say to his disciples, “Don’t be afraid.”

No doubt today’s Word wants to shed light on this reality that we could say as human as it is dehumanizing: fear, fears. The first step to take is to locate and catalog our fears. Sometimes they’re afraid of things… of the past, of the present, of the future… situations, diseases, deficiencies, catastrophes, violence… fear of making decisions, fear of commitment, of the surrender of one’s life forever, fear of suffering for any reason, fear of the same death. Other times fear is focused on certain people who represent disproportionate harassment and a source of suffering and pain for us. And those fears frighten us and paralyze us, depersonalize us, enslave us, do not let us walk.

Someone once said that the only fear he had was himself, his own weakness, his inconsistency, his misery, his sin.

The first antidote to the fears that Jesus proposes is to live in truth. because there’s nothing hidden that doesn’t come to be discovered. The truth makes us free. True freedom of heart and spirit dilutes fears of things or people. And what is the truth? It is the question that Pontius Pilate asked Jesus before crucifying him, to which Jesus does not answer. because Jesus Himself is the Truth.

The second antidote to the fears jesus proposes to us is trust in the Father of heaven. there is nothing and no one to escape divine Providence. If God takes care of the birds of heaven, how he will not take care of each of us. It is about putting our whole life in the hands of God, our projects, failures, illusions, and even our sins. St. John Paul II said: “If you put everything in God’s hands, you will see God’s hand in everything.”

But Jesus warns us of what we truly must fear. to be killed by the spirit, by the soul. If we lose that, we lose what truly resembles God, which enables communion with Him, which sets us apart from the rest of our creatures. That is the only fear we have to have, to let ourselves be enveloped by deception, often self-deception, and mistrust, often self-confidence. Fear of sin, that is, the misfortune of the loss of communion with God, which leads us to the death of the spirit.

Jesus Christ has overcome sin and death with his offering to the Father in the sacrifice of the Cross that is updated in the celebration of the Eucharist. He is truth and life. He is the Father’s gift to humanity to overcome fear, particularly present in our world today because of the pandemic situation we are all suffering.

Without fear, therefore, we must bear witness of Him, be His witnesses, his spokesmen, his messenger disciples in these difficult times. Nothing and no one will take us away from the love of Christ. Nothing and no one can silence the Word of the Father who in Christ has been pronounced upon all mankind.

Prayer

The memory of my mistakes and sins, the uncertainty about my future, the cross of my present, paralyze me and cower me. I’m scared.

It’s hard for me to trust you with my life, to make decisions that can commit me forever, to give myself up at all. I’m scared.

I don’t know how to do and say, human respect beats me, the opinion of others enslaves me. I’m scared.

Superficiality and comfort envelop me, half truth and deception are chains that bind me, I don’t know how to free myself. I’m scared.

Sir, tell me again, “Don’t be afraid.” Repeat it to me every day, at every moment, especially when anguish and pain cause my life to lose all meaning and horizon.

Lord, tell me again, “Do not be afraid” of the past, the present, the future, the pain, the suffering, the insult, the abandonment, the loneliness, the sickness, the contempt, the insult, the death. to the cross in any of its forms.

Lord, tell me again, “Don’t be afraid. because I’m always with you.” Amen.