12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah suffered more than the other Old Testament prophets.  In today’s first reading Jeremiah says that all his friends have turned on him and he is in serious danger no matter where he turns.  But more important than Jeremiah’s horrible sufferings, is his strong faith in God.  He has entrusted his cause to the Lord and therefore can sing to the Lord and praise the Lord because he knows with everything in him that God will rescue him from the power of the wicked.

In the second reading, Paul writes to the Romans about sin and death, both of which can strike fear in our hearts.  It was the sin or transgression of Adam that brought sin and death to all of us.  We all sin and certainly we all will die. But Paul knows that the “gracious gift” of Jesus Christ is greater than death and any sin we may commit.  How often Paul writes about the abundance of grace that is offered to us if we only believe in Jesus and live our lives accordingly. Paul believes, hopes, and trusts in Jesus with all that is within him. Like Jeremiah, his life was often painful and difficult, but he persevered. He too was willing to praise God for the gifts given to us through the Lord Jesus.

In the gospel, Jesus speaks to His twelve disciples and tells them to fear no one, not even those who can kill their bodies.  At the same time though, the Lord warns them against falling prey to the one who can destroy them both body and soul in Gehenna.  They have been warned that if the Evil One is allowed to have his way, he will destroy them. We too in our day need to heed that warning.

More importantly though, Jesus assures the Twelve that God the Father knows and loves them more than they can imagine.  And when they acknowledge Jesus before others, Jesus will acknowledge them before His heavenly Father. Jesus encourages them to believe in God’s providential care for them, regardless of how things go.  The Lord tells them that as long as they remain close to Jesus and are willing to live lives that show others they belong to Jesus, Jesus will tell God the Father that they belong to Him.

Do we have faith in God, especially in times of trial, as strong as Jeremiah did?  Are we as free of fear and conscious of the gifts of grace that Jesus has won for us as Paul was?  Do we live in such a way that others can see that we are Christians, striving to do all as Jesus would want us to do?

Stronger faith, freedom from fear, and a more Christ-like life is the invitation of today’s Scriptures. The Holy Spirit eagerly awaits us each day to respond to that invitation by asking for more faith, hope, and love. How often do we ask the Spirit for more of His gifts? Ideally, it would be every day, for the Christian life is best lived one day at a time.

What we need is a daily decision to live for God and then to trust God - Father, Son, and Spirit - to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  God’s burning desire is that we be united with Him both now and forever.  Given the gift of free will, this will only happen if we let go and surrender everything to God and let God lead us and guide us at all times in all things.

What most holds us back from doing that most often is fear, which is born from a lack of trust.  When we trust God, amazing things can happen.  All the saints trusted Jesus.  We are a step closer to joining their ranks each and every time we simply and sincerely pray, “Jesus, I trust in You.”