Reflection. 12th Sunday in Ordinary time

Reflection on 12th Sunday in ordinary time.

First Reading: Jeremiah 20: 10-13

Second Reading: Romans. 5: 12-15

Gospel. Matthew 10:26-33

Today’s gospel is a continuation of the instructions that Jesus gave to the twelve apostles as he sent them out to go and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The values of the Kingdom are different from the values of the world so people reject the message and hate the messengers. So it was natural for the apostles to fear as Jesus sends them out to evangelize a hostile world. Probably, Jesus would have realized that the disciples would abandon their mission in order to save lives. So Jesus tells them not to be afraid. In today’s Gospel Jesus gives three reasons why his apostles, should not be frightened as he says, 1. God will not permit evil to win, 2. Only God can destroy both the soul and the body, 3. God is compassionate and merciful. Let us reflect on them one by one.

Jesus Christ identifies two kinds of fear the apostles had: fear of false accusation and conviction, and fear of death. Jesus himself was falsely accused many times by his own people and the Roman authorities, they brought false witnesses against him to stop his mission, to separate him from the people. But Jesus never feared the authorities, rather he focused on the Kingdom of God on earth. Since Jesus Himself had experienced false accusation and rejection from the people, he knew that even his disciples will undergo the same experience. So Jesus encourages his disciples not to be afraid of false accusation and conviction. And He assures them that God will expose the evil plans and deeds of the authorities by saying; “nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered.” That God will not permit evil to win is the promise of v. 26. Jesus assures His disciples the assurance of God’s providence.

Secondly, the disciples also feared death. We all fear death. The threat of death may be the most powerful form of fear. By proclaiming the word of God, it was possible for the disciples to be killed. We have witnessed in our Catholic tradition that almost all the apostles were killed. Some of them were crucified on the cross, like Peter and Andrew, and others like James, Paul, and Bartholomew were brutally killed. The governments in many countries use fear of death against Christians. Jesus admits that humans have the power to kill, but notes that they have power only to kill the body, not the soul. God alone can destroy both soul and body. God alone, therefore, is the one we should fear.

The third reason why the disciples should not be afraid is God’s compassionate love. We are more important to God than sparrows. God knows everything that we go through. Jesus does not promise an easy life for his followers. He puts forward the challenges and struggles to the disciples but assures them that God cares for the sparrows that are sold, and God knows even the hairs on our heads better than we do.

What can we learn from today’s Gospel? The scripture readings of today call us to not to be afraid, and they invite us to give witness to Christ, to be firm in our faith, and to be the followers of Jesus and the members of the Church without fear. Our life and vocation are different from the early disciples. Our fears differ from the early Christians. There are many things we are afraid of. Sometimes we are afraid that we will make a wrong decision. At other times, we are afraid of what others will think when we speak up for Jesus. We are afraid of what will be the future of our children. We are also afraid of growing old. Sometimes we are also afraid of what will happen if we become sick. At the root of these fears is the fear of loss. Every fear we have is grounded in the knowledge that we have something or someone to lose. I can lose my job, family, house, money, health, and even life itself. Rejection and loss are the basis of our fears. But we forget one thing: whatever trouble or crisis affects us, we know that God understands it better than we ourselves do. Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what is happening. Only when we know that God is on our side and our life is in the hands of a loving God, we can overcome fear. The next time fear grips our life we need to remember that being faithful to Christ wherever we meet him in this life is much more important than our fear of rejection and loss. Let us remind ourselves that God cares – we are each a dear child of His, and He cares for each of us. “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” The last verse of Psalm 27 sums it up nicely: “Trust in the Lord. Have Faith; do not despair. Trust in the Lord.”

One day a pastor was preaching with so much passion to the congregation that they were all children of God, and they were not to be afraid when difficult situations come. People were so much taken by this and all they all shouted amen. Suddenly a terrorist entered the Church with a gun. And pointed the gun at the congregation saying, “Who is a child of God here? Let me send him or her to heaven? The congregation remained silent. He then shot the roof and the congregation shouted, “It’s the pastor! He always says that he is a child of God! Pastor replied what kind of conspiracy is this? Everyone here know that I am the son of Charles Githinji.