25 June 2023: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Jer 20:10-13	Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35	Rom 5:12-15	Mt 10:26-33
RCL: Jer 20:7-13		RCL: Rom 6:1b-11	RCL: Mt 10:24-39

Discipleship: do not be afraid

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on how we live and witness as disciples.

First reading (Jer 20:10-13)

The first reading is from the prophet Jeremiah, whom God called in 626 BC as the Babylonians came to power. The first part of the book of Jeremiah (chapters 1-25) are poetic oracles, and form the heart of his message: commitment to his calling despite persecution and suffering; condemnation of the people’s lax religious and immoral behaviors; and complaints against God.

In today’s pericope, Jeremiah is in the middle of a crisis of faith, and offers a lament to God. In the first part of Jeremiah’s lament, God has asked Jeremiah to proclaim a message to the Jewish people that is so difficult to hear that the people turn against the prophet (“the whisperings of many”). He is worried that even his “friends” want him dead (“take our vengeance on him”). In the second part of his lament, Jeremiah remembers that God is a God of truth and justice (“the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion”) and will protect him from his oppressors (“they will not triumph”). Jeremiah closes by praising God, who protects “the poor” from “the power of the wicked.”

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Jeremiah articulates the mission and attitude of the prophet, echoed in Jesus’ instructions in today’s gospel.

Second reading (Rom 5:12-15)

The second reading continues the fourteen-week, semi-continuous reading of Paul’s letter to the ekklesiai (multiple communities) in Rome. Romans, written in 56-57 AD, is Paul’s final letter. He has completed his missionary work in Asia and now plans a missionary trip to Spain, with a stop in Rome. He writes to the Roman believing communities to introduce himself and to give an authentic and acceptable account of the gospel he preaches.

In today’s pericope, Paul continues his focus on God gifts (God’s grace and Christ’s self-gift), granted to believers through Christ’s obedience. The pericope has two parts. In the first part, Paul discusses Adam’s choice as the source of sin: Adam disobeys God’s command (“through one man sin entered the world,” Gn 2:16-17); Adam’s disregard for God’s command brings death (“through sin, death,” Wis 2:23-24). Because all humans continue to disregard God’s commands in the same way that Adam did (‘inasmuch all sinned’), the effect of Adam’s sin continues, manifested as human death (“death came to all”). As an aside, Paul notes that sin and death existed before the Law (the time between Adam and Moses), even though, without the Law, God hadn’t qualified sin (as in the Ten Commandments). But the story doesn’t end with Adam. In the second part, Paul discusses Christ’s act as the remedy for sin: God’s “grace” and Christ’s self-gift on the cross (“the gracious gift of the one”) acquit humans and give eternal life to believers (“overflow for the many”).

The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Romans.

Gospel (Mt 10:26-33)

Matthew presents the second part of Jesus’ missionary discourse. In today’s pericope, Jesus instructs his disciples to proclaim his message without fear, to proclaim to all without fear, and to trust in God’s care and support without fear.

• Boldly proclaim his message. Ancient village life had no privacy; everyone lived in the public eye. Villagers believed quiet or unexpressive people were secretly plotting something against the community. To counter these cultural attitudes, Jesus tells his disciples to proclaim his message boldly and openly (“proclaim it from the housetops”) so nothing is “concealed” and the good news is spoken “in the light.”
• Proclaim his message to all. Jesus’ message of metanoia (change one’s heart/mind) and that “God’s reign draws near” is for everyone. Unlike some ancient religions, Jesus’ good news is neither “secret,” nor esoteric (“concealed,” “revealed”), nor available only to some. However, proclaiming Jesus’ message is dangerous. Not everyone will welcome the good news gladly and without fear. Jesus knows his disciples will be opposed, rejected, and persecuted. He tells his disciples not to fear humans who can kill only the body; rather, to be in awe of God, whose judgement can destroy both the body and the soul.
• Trust in God’s care. Jesus reminds his disciples that the care God has for them never falters. If God pays attention to “sparrows” and to the number of “hairs on your head;” how much more does God care about disciples whom God knows personally and who do God’s work? Jesus acknowledges (literally “is joined with” or “is of one mind with”) every disciple who faithfully witnesses to Jesus’ message (“acknowledges me before others”), and Jesus is joined to (“acknowledges”) those disciples before his Father.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about what we fear and how fear constrains our work as disciples. Jeremiah faces public opposition and threats, but remembers that God is a mighty champion who will protect and vindicate him. Paul looks to Jesus’ self-gift and God’s grace as God’s loving response to human sin and death. Jesus tells this disciples that they can be fearless in proclaiming his message because God is “of one mind with them.”

As disciples, Jesus calls us to proclaim and to live his message in not only our personal lives but in our public words and actions as well. Publicly witnessing to personal faith can be scary and can limit what we say and how we live. Do we believe that God is with us as our mighty champion, or are we afraid of being shamed publicly? Do we believe that God’s superabundant grace overflows with kindness and mercy, or are we afraid that God will not forgive us? Do we believe that Jesus’ message must be made known to all, or are we afraid of others’ criticism and social rejection?

—Terence Sherlock

20 February 2022: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary time C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23	Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13	1 Cor 15:45-49	Lk 6:27-38
RCL: Gen 45: 3-11, 15		RCL: 1 Cor 15: 35-38, 42-52

Discipleship: love, mercy, and compassion like God

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on mercy, forgiveness, justice, and love.

First reading (1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23)

The first reading is from the first book of the prophet Samuel, which tells the story of the beginnings of Israel’s monarchy, including stories of Saul and David. Saul was Israel’s first king; David, after killing Goliath, became Saul’s second in command. David was more popular with the people, and Saul began to distrust David, expelling him from Israel. In today’s pericope, Saul is hunting David to kill him. In a plot twist, Saul is delivered into David’s hands, asleep and undefended. David’s general, Abishai, wants to seize this chance to kill Saul, but David refuses to harm God’s anointed king (“who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”). David realizes that only God can judge Saul (“The LORD will reward each man for his justice”). Instead, David takes Saul’s spear as evidence that he has spared Saul’s life (“I would not harm the LORD’s anointed”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading because David’s forgiveness of Saul echoes Jesus’ demand to forgive enemies.

Second reading (1 Cor 15:45-49)

The second reading is a continuation of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes to the Corinthians to urge them toward unity and to correct their misunderstandings and wrong behaviors. In today’s pericope, Paul presents Hebrew scripture’s story of Adam (“the first human, Adam”) and the Christian understanding and meaning of Christ (“the last Adam,” “the second human”). In a series of contrasts, Paul compares Adam and Christ. Adam is given life by God (“became a living creature”); Christ gives life through his transformative death and resurrection. Adam emerges in God’s creation as a “natural” being; the pre-existent Christ is a “spiritual” being. Adam is “from the earth” (Gn 2:7); Christ descends “from heaven” and is made flesh. All humans share Adam’s earthliness and humanness (“we have borne the image of the earthly one”), but believers can also share in Christ’s life and divinity (“bear the image of the heavenly one”). In the present life, God’s grace helps believers align their lives to Christ’s example; at the end-time, resurrected believers will be conformed to Christ. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from First Corinthians.

Gospel (Lk 6:27-38)

Luke’s gospel is a continuation of the “sermon on the plain.” In today’s pericope, Jesus gives his disciples the “laws” of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ laws are not prescriptive rules, but a way of thinking and living that, guided by the Spirit, enable a disciple to do the right thing at the right time.

• The law of love. Jesus demands that disciples go beyond and do more than simple reciprocity. The human golden rule (“Treat others as you wish to be treated”) is a minimum human response; Jesus calls disciples to follow the divine golden rule: “Do as God does.”
• Going beyond reciprocity. In three examples, Jesus identifies the limits of simple reciprocity: “even sinners do that.” Disciples must act as God does, being kind to all, even to those who are unkind or evil. A disciple’s true test of love is honoring a specific person whose words and actions are unlovable. Those who define their own conduct as the measure of love for others (the human golden rule) necessarily limit their love to others. Jesus calls disciples to use God’s actions as the measure of love for others (the divine golden rule), which requires disciples to rise above and go beyond human limitations of love.
• Measuring love. Disciples experience life in the kingdom by their relationship with God. Disciples must not judge others, not because others will judge disciples in return, but because God will judge disciples. Jesus sums up his teaching about the law of love with a warning: whatever measure a disciple uses in doing, loving, or condemning another will become the measure God uses to measure that disciple’s actions and words.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about judgement, justice, forgiveness, and love. David, often forgiven by God, recognizes that God alone can judge Saul. Paul tells the Corinthians that they come from Adam’s earthiness, but through God’s grace are called to share in Christ’s heavenliness. Jesus calls disciples to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable, to stop judging and comparing, and to be merciful as God is merciful.

Love does not conflict with justice; love always satisfies justice, even when love exceeds justice’s demands. Whom do we forgive and not forgive? Do we accept God’s grace to align our ways of thinking and living with Christ’s? How does God measure our words and actions toward those who hate, judge, and refuse to forgive us?

—Terence Sherlock