Homily: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 21, 2026
My dear brothers and sisters, last Sunday, the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ centered more on vocation; vocation to priestly life and consecrated life. This Sunday, Jesus continues a similar call but now in a more extended way. Today, we see that the invitation to be messengers of God, the invitation to be disciples of Jesus, the invitation to be God’s witnesses in the world is indeed given to all of us. Jesus says in the gospel reading of today, “everyone therefore who acknowledges me before humans, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before humans, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”
This Jesus’ statement can indeed be a warning to us. We must know that by our actions and inactions, by our words, by our silence, may be, cowardly silence we can deny Jesus. We can equally acknowledge Him by our words and deeds. In this gospel reading of today, Jesus identifies fear as the worst enemy of those who desire to be witnesses of Jesus in the world of their time. Three times in today’s gospel Jesus repeats “do not be afraid.” Fear can really be an obstacle to faith. It can take different forms, fear of losing one’s social position, fear of what others will say, instead of speaking out at the face of anti-Christian position, we will prefer to be silent about it.
Today many young men and women do not practice their faith, they do not identify with Christ, not necessarily because they dislike God instead they want to belong to the unfortunate social climate of their time where religious practices appear archaic, where a young, faithful and committed religious adherent looks like someone a little mentally deranged and psychologically not okay. This thought pattern continues to have telling consequences both spiritually and even physically. Some persons for instance have confessed that they became alcoholics, drug addicts, chain smokers because they were afraid to stand on their two feet. They never had the courage to resist the dangerous influence of their friends and peers at the beginning, till they formed the habit.
Brothers and sisters, we must rise against this social blackmail and warfare against our faith in our time. Jesus is asking us in the gospel reading of today to be fearless apostles of His. We must not be afraid to object when propositions that openly contradict our faith are raised in our workplaces. We must not be afraid to do the sign of the cross and say grace before meal in a public restaurant. These acts and many others like them may seem trivial and simple to some but they give testimony to the faith that is in us. People who make fun of and scoff at such things at first, may begin later to look into their own hearts and come to realize what it is to be a man or woman of principle. Eventually, they may become men and women of principle themselves. That is a way we acknowledge God before men and convert souls even unknowingly and inadvertently.
Jesus further asks us not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, rather we should fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Often, we are very afraid of physical things that can harm us like wild animals. We are afraid of food that can increase our blood sugar, increase our cholesterol, we avoid them. However, when it comes to spiritual dangers, we are complacent and do nothing.
When I lived in Kingston, I was taking a walk one evening around Queen’s university and two young men belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints stopped me. For over thirty minutes they used different strategies and tactics to convert me to their faith, they even gave me their holy book for free. I was patient and down-to-earth listening to them. They only allowed me to go when I told them that I am a Catholic priest. They saw it would be impossible for them to lure me to their church. A question I asked myself after that is when shall we Catholics be fearless and have the courage to openly profess our faith in a similar way?
In essence brothers and sisters, Jesus’ message to us today is clear, Jesus tells us where our priority attention should first be. The gospel reading of today ended with a stark truth from our Lord Jesus Christ. In the great day of judgment, the secrets of men’s hearts will be revealed, the falsehood, the malice, the hypocrisy of wicked men and then the faith, the purity, the gentleness, the charity of the faithful people. Men will be seen as they really are. 1Jn 3:2, “we shall see God as He really is.” It is a clarion call to all of us to be fearless and be true to God and true to ourselves.
