Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal May-June 2023

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
4th week of the psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 20:10-13)
I heard the whispering of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Yes, let us denounce him.” All my friends were watching for my downfall: “Perhaps he will be seduced, then we will prevail against him and take our revenge.” But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion; my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable disgrace. 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. - The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The principle expressed by the prophet Jeremiah seems rather daring to us: he asks God to take revenge on his enemies. Can we pray in this way and ask God to avenge us against the neighbor who torments us, the employer who humiliated us, or the relative who seriously wronged us? Is our God not the God of love? Should he grant our request? Yet even the New Testament asks God to take revenge (Rom 12:19). Such prayer is right precisely because we ask God to restore order, to be the one who gives the just person a reward and the guilty person a punishment, according to his wisdom. God asks only that we do not take revenge ourselves, because we do not know our neighbor’s true motives or the background to his choices. Let us not judge or condemn, because our judgment is always partial, while his is perfect. God’s “revenge” on our enemies may be different from what we imagine... Perhaps it will even be absolution and forgiveness. What matters is that he does it, not us.

SECOND READING

From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 5:12-15)
Brothers and sisters, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, so death came to all, 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. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as Adam did, 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 one person the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. - The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Saint Paul argues about grace and original sin by constantly contrasting the first man, Adam, with Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became man for us. Without original sin, nothing about human life on earth could be understood, and evil, suffering, and death could not be explained in any way. We must always refer to original sin, not as a historical event that occurred millennia ago, but as the present reality of a mysterious resistance to God, goodness, and grace, which is also within us. We are all children of Adam and Eve, but through Baptism we are also children of God, sharing in his very nature, redeemed and ransomed by the Blood of Christ. Therefore, beyond considering original sin, we should focus above all on the work of Jesus, who through his obedience to the Father’s divine plan restores to us an abundance of the life of grace. Paul insists: through the obedience of one alone we are saved (if we want it, naturally, and if we live consistently with the grace we have received).

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:26-33)
At that time, Jesus said to his apostles: “Do not be afraid of men, for 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. Therefore, 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.” - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

Jesus repeatedly asks us not to be afraid either of people or of events; the only one to fear and guard against is the devil, who has a mysterious power over us, and if we listen to him, we end up losing our souls forever. Yet we see that the opposite usually happens: people generally fear the aggression of others or external events (financial insecurity, poor health, fear of the future, etc.) and perhaps do not fear the devil at all, to the point that they doubt his very existence or minimize the seriousness of sin in general. Today Jesus asks us to do the exact opposite. Christians are not afraid of events, but accept them as they come, always living through them in God’s will and in charity, with peace in their hearts and without distress. “When Christians do not harm themselves,” writes Saint John Chrysostom, “then nothing can harm them: they are invincible.” Invincibility does not arise from the presumption of being superheroes superior to everyone else, but from the awareness of sharing in the victory of the cross: this is the only place the devil fears, because it is the triumph of divine love.