12th Sunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle A, Year I)
Community Word:
The gifts of the Holy Spirit strengthen our commitment to serve God.
Theme:
We are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit when we testify to others what Jesus has done in our life.
Promise:
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”(Mt 10:32)
Reflection:
As followers and disciples of the Lord, our faithfulness has benefits as well as challenges. In the readings of the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Times, we see that the Lord wants us to approach these challenges, not with fear or intimidation, but by relying fully on His love because His perfect love casts out all fear.
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah was threatened even by his own friends because he was faithful in proclaiming God’s word. He laments – “All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine,” (Jer 20:10b). It would have been easy for him to seek revenge, yet he simply trusted in God as he declared: “…the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph…..they will be put to utter shame, to lasting unforgettable confusion,” (Jer 20:11).There is no better defense from persecution than being more confident in declaring that the Lord is our Protector from those who puts us down and in testifying to everything that God has done in our lives.
In Psalms, David re-echoes the same powerful words of Jeremiah’s prayer: …the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not. Let the heavens and the earth praise him,” (Ps 69:34-35). We praise God because He answers our prayers out of His great love for us, especially when we feel discouraged and hopeless. When we feel there is no salvation from all our woes, we find our refuge in the Lord and proclaim His compassion and mercy that we too may lead other desperate souls to Him. We continue to testify that Jesus is the Christ who saved us from sin and death. He came to bring us to the Father through His teachings and His examples and sending us the Holy Spirit to empower us with His gifts. God’s grace through Christ powerfully outweighed Adam’s sin.
Our theme for the week is: We are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit when we testify to others what Jesus has done in our life. Let us learn from the bible readings of this Sunday and of the ensuing weekdays, and let us never doubt what God has done and will continue to do in our lives. We simply focus on God’s love and His promise of eternal life. In the Gospel, the apostles were challenged to be courageous in proclaiming the Good News; in fact, they were met with opposition, rejection, persecution and even martyrdom. Just as Jesus instructed His apostles, He is also teaching us to focus on our mission and as we do, He will strengthen us and cast out our fears, that we might “…speak in the light…proclaim on the housetops,” (Mt 10:27). Indeed, being faithful to our Master may be challenging, but Jesus has given us a beautiful and inspiring promise when we do not hesitate to confess before men that He is our Lord and Savior: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Heavenly Father,” (Mt10:32).
Prayer:
Lord, anoint us with Your Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us, and remove our fears when we are faced with challenges. We seek forgiveness for the times when we doubted your presence and allowed fear to keep us from proclaiming Your message of salvation. Thank you for your promise of eternal life with You in heaven. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
1. When I am faced with hesitation or fear of any kind for doing God’s work, do I immediately seek God’s help or simply turn away and do nothing?
2. What should I do to overcome my reluctance to be a witness or sharer in community on my “new Life” or “transformation” story?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
June 25, 2017 (Sun) – Jer 20:10-13/Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35/Rom 5:12-15/Mt 10:26-33
June 26, 2017(Mon) – Gn 12:1-9/Ps 33:12, 13, 18-22/Mt 7:1-5
June 27, 2017(Tues) – Gn 13:2, 5-18Ps 15:3-5/Mt 7:6, 12-14
June 28, 2017(Wed) – Gn 15:1-12, 17-18/Ps 105:1-4, 6-9/Mt 7:15-20
June 29, 2017 (Thur)- Acts 12:1-11/Ps 34:2-5, 6-9/2Tm 4:6-8, 17-18/Mt 16:13-19
June 30, 2017 (Fri) – Gn 17:1, 9, 10, 15-22/Ps 128:1-5/Mt 8:1-4,
July 1, 2017(Sat) – Gn 18:1-15/Lk 1:46-50, 53, 54, 55/Mt 8:5-17
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
