Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dominica XII per Annum A

21 June 2026

The context here in chapter 10 of St. Matthew is that Jesus has just commissioned the Apostles, given them his authority, and is sending them out to share in his preaching. As this chapter (10) progresses, the Lord tells the apostles that, like him, they will face the same opposition, hostility, and even dangers to their life. This culminates with him pronouncing to the Apostles that “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master” (Mt. 10:24). And then the Lord moves right into the beginning of the selection we hear today: “Fear no one” (Mt. 10:26).

Now, given all that preceded today’s passage, what me might call the bad news about persecutions, that’s a tall order! Jesus warns his apostles – and it applies to us too – that they (and we) will face difficulty and tests in remaining faithful in this world. Jesus warns us that our commitment to him will be put to the test. And so, we must examine ourselves as disciples. Do we acknowledge that when we face hostility, rejection, and even persecution that is not an excuse for hiding our faith, explaining it away, or being unfaithful? Do we have that proper perspective that even as good as bodily life is, and for as much as we should guard it and help it to flourish, bodily life is limited but eternal life, the good of the soul, is far more important?

I was a priest for only about two (2) years when I took a trip to St. Louis with another priest. Just days before our scheduled trip the crime and sin of clerical abuse broke out in the news in St. Louis. There was fierce anger all over the news, on the front page of newspapers and on television. Visiting on the phone before our trip, my friend and I were nervously discussing how ugly things were in St. Louis at that time. As we spoke, we found ourselves considering: Should we maybe not wear our priest collar on the plane? We could just fly into St. Louis, grab our bags, and move out of the airport unidentified. It was very tempting since we knew we were flying into a hornet’s nest. In the end, we decided we could not let the ugliness of abuse cloud our judgement. We could not be ashamed to be identified as priests because, frankly, we weren’t ashamed. And so, we both wore our roman collar on the plane. We exited the plane in St. Louis, and we could feel the eyes upon us. We walked past airport gates with televisions broadcasting clips from a recent press conference where the local bishop was fielding heated questi