2026-06-21 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah came from a priestly family (his father Hilkiah was a priest). He was called to prophesy in the southern kingdom of Israel around 627 BCE, during the reign of King Josiah, and remained active for roughly 40 years through the reigns of several subsequent kings. His audience were filled alternately with nostalgia and fear—looking back to a “golden age” under David and Solomon, while facing the rising threat of Babylon He prophesied during one of its most turbulent periods — the decades leading up to and following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587/586 BCE when he foretold the destruction of the Temple.

Jeremiah faced intense opposition—he was beaten, imprisoned, thrown into a cistern, and accused of treason. This personal anguish is reflected in his writings, earning him the nickname "the weeping prophet."

Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35 

Psalm 69's portrayal of David, as a servant of God who is suffering for no fault of his own, but rather for his devotion to God. Something that Jesus and any disciple of his would invariably experience

According to the New Testament, those who lived at the time of Jesus and observed what he said and did, often made connections with psalm 69.

At the beginning of his work (according to John’s Gospel), when Jesus chased the commercializers out of the temple, his disciples remembered words from Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (John 2:17). When Jesus spoke of the hatred his followers would experience he referred to Psalm 69:4, “They hated me without cause” (John 15:25). When Jesus was near death on the cross he said “I am thirsty” and was offered sour wine; John understood this as a fulfillment of Psalm 69:21 (John 19:28); see also Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36. Finally, Acts 1:20 gives an account of the death of Judas that is understood as a fulfillment of Psalm 69:25.

Psalm 69  falls into three major sections, each issuing a call for God’s help:
1. Save me, God! (verses 1-6). The one who prays this psalm is desperate, even near death.
2. Set me free, Lord! (verses 7-18). Verses 7-9 present an “I” complaint. Verses 10-12 continue with they-complaints about others in the community. Verses 13-18 are desperate cries for help and are at the core of the psalm.
3. O God, protect me from my enemies! (verses 19-36). 

Romans 5:12-15

St Paul traces back sinfulness to Adam and Eve's attempt to break away from their dependence on God. God's law was not made known until the time of Moses. In verse 13, St Paul introduces the idea that sin existed before the Law, yet God did not hold humans accountable until after the Law was given. 

But just as sin is a consequence of one man, Adam, so too is redemption from sin the consequence of the gift of one man, Jesus. Christ’s righteous act, obediently dying on the cross, is his gift of salvation of mankind. God’s grace abounds because it is a gift given precisely to those who are not worthy of it.

Matthew 10:26-33

These passages from Matthew are called the missionary discourse, where Jesus speaks of the hardships his disciples will face, the divisions his message will bring, and the radical cost but ultimate redemption of loyalty to him. 

Just as Jesus has faced opposition, his disciples will also. If the people of Jesus’s day could see his work and associate it with the work of the devil, we should not be surprised if similar things happen to us as followers today. Just prior to this verse, Jesus has made clear that allegiance to him will sometimes cause rifts even in families.

Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples not to be afraid. Though they will face threats, they should not fear those who can harm the body but cannot touch the soul. The one they need to be wary about is the evil spirit who can harm body and soul. The recourse is to trust completly in God’s care, knowing that even the hairs on their heads are counted

To further illustrate, Jesus points to a sparrow. The sparrow was one of the smallest and most common birds in that region. These common birds were frequently caught for food or to sell as food (see also Deuteronomy 22:6–7; Amos 3:5; Lamentations 3:52). Yet, even something so common, so cheap, and so small does not fall out of the care and notice of Creator.