XII Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Matthew 10:26-33
Today's Gospel passage (Mt 10:26-33) is taken from chapter ten of Matthew's Gospel, which brings together Jesus' words on the missionary mandate of his disciples.
We saw last Sunday where these words come from: Jesus sees the crowds and feels compassion, because he sees them tired and exhausted, lost, like sheeps without a shepherd. This is why he sends out his disciples, to proclaim to all the poor the presence of the Kingdom that is drawing near, and to bring God's compassion to everyone.
Jesus doesn't give precise instructions; he doesn't tell his disciples what to say or do. Quite simply, the disciples must bring peace, take on the evil and pain they will encounter, accept to pay the price of such a precious proclamation with their lives: much of the missionary discourse is devoted to this, to putting the disciples in the perspective that their message will be rejected, that their presence will be uncomfortable, that they will be rejected; they should not be surprised by this, for nothing more will happen to them than what happened to Jesus himself.
One thing the disciples must do: not be afraid.
This command might seem strange, especially after the words with which Jesus announces persecution to his own people; on the contrary, it is the very heart of this discourse.
What are Jesus' disciples called to proclaim?
Quite simply, that it is possible not to be afraid.
Even in the face of the worst threats, even in the face of persecution and the possibility of death, it is possible not to be afraid. And it's not because we are heroes, nor because we are stronger than our adversaries, but only because of a relationship - the relationship with the Father - that gives life a definitive certainty, an unshakeable hope: the hope that nothing in our lives will be lost.
The content of our mission is simply this: trust in the Father, total trust. So it's not a question of saying something or doing something, but of living like children: this is the proclamation that our lives are called to shout loud and clear.
The invitation not to be afraid is therefore at the heart of this Gospel, and at the heart of Jesus' entire message. Today, we hear it three times, as Jesus warns us against three fears, so that our relationship with the Father can penetrate to the very depths of our lives and free us from all fear. What are these fears?
The first is that of being stripped of what we have and what we are (Mt 10:28: "And do not fear those who kill the body and have no power to kill the soul; rather, fear him who has the power to destroy both soul and body in Geenna"), and therefore that someone will take our life: this is the fear of our fragility, our weakness, our limitation, the fear that, with death, everything will come to an end.
The second fear is found in verse 29, when Jesus says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's will: because we are afraid that our life will be led at random, that it will be at the mercy of forces hostile to us, we are afraid of a life devoid of meaning.
The third is a deep-seated fear that we carry within us, of being worthless (Mt 10:31: "Do not be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows!"), of being important to no one, of having no one interested in us.
That's why Jesus has compassion for us: because it's these fears that tire and exhaust us, that make us lonely. Compassion, on the other hand, is a feeling that speaks of a bond, a relationship: it's the way Jesus relates to the world, the way he frees us from our loneliness. He doesn't assure us of a trouble-free life, as false shepherds would, but he puts himself beside our path, he makes a place for us in his life and in his relationship with the Father: this will never be lacking.
Let's conclude with two observations.
How do we drive out fear? With courage? No, paradoxically with another fear (Mt 10:28), with a real fear, the only one possible for the Christian: that of losing the relationship that sustains us. Do not fear those who take away your life," says Jesus, "but fear losing the Father, leaving the relationship with Him.
Finally, the last verses of this extract (Mt 10:32-33) speak of judgment, of that moment when we will stand before the Father and Jesus will speak to him about us. So, what will we be judged on? Interestingly, at the end of this missionary discourse, Jesus says that we won't present ourselves to the Father with our missionary achievements, we won't list to him our good works or the people we've converted. We will be judged precisely on whether or not we have trusted God: if we have trusted God to the point of risking our lives, if we have been children at every opportunity, then that will give us the chance to be recognized as such in our turn. We will be judged on our trust in God, which in turn makes trust in man possible.
+Pierbattista
