Blessed are those who hear the Word of God
You are worth more than many sparrows
José Ricardo Bezerra and Felipe Bezerra
Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33
Introduction
The Gospel of this Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) is Matthew 10:26-33, and it continues the missionary discourse we followed last Sunday. After gathering and sending out the Twelve, Jesus prepares them for persecution and, three times in the same passage, repeats the same warning: “Do not be afraid.” It is a Gospel that speaks not only of fear, but also of the holy Fear of God and of the infinite worth of every human life before the Father.
Before we comment point by point, an observation is worth making that sheds light on the whole of today’s text. Jesus speaks at the same time of the two dimensions of our existence. There is a light for this earthly life, especially for persecutions and martyrdoms, and also for the life to come, when, in fact, nothing that is hidden will fail to come to light.
As we always do, we have chosen five points for your meditation and prayer, which we share in the podcast, and which you can watch in full.
1. Do not be afraid of men
“Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” (Mt 10:26).
The first point is the word that Jesus repeats three times in today’s passage alone: “Do not be afraid…” (vv. 26, 28, 31). It is often said that this “do not fear” and its variants appear 365 times in the Bible, but the exact number does not matter. What matters is that fear is a reality that can paralyze us. Not that fear is in itself something bad: it is necessary and even protects us. Anyone who has no fear at all ends up taking pointless risks. The problem is when fear leaves us unable to act, when we stop doing good or bearing witness to the faith because we worry about what others may do to us or think of us.
That is why Jesus asks us to direct our fear to the right place. Here He speaks of the men who persecute, who can kill the body. These we should not fear, because the Lord will be with us and takes care of us. The disciples who would be brought before judges and tribunals would receive words so fitting that no one could contradict them, for the Holy Spirit would speak through them (cf. Mt 10:17-22). We see this, for example, in Saint Paul, who before King Agrippa proclaims the Gospel with such force that the king himself acknowledges: “A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me.” (Acts 26:28). When we are with the Lord, there is no persecution that can silence us.
2. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed
“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops!” (Mt 10:27).
This word has two faces. On one hand it reveals the public nature of Revelation and announces the final judgment, when everything will come to light and nothing will remain hidden. Christianity was never a religion of secrets for a few, nor something reserved only for an elite of the enlightened. Against the heresy of Gnosticism, which promised salvation through a secret knowledge, and against all esotericism that still exists today, Jesus is clear: what He says in a whisper must be proclaimed from the housetops. The Gospel is for everyone. The so-called “messianic secret” that appears in Saint Mark (cf. Mk 1:24-25.34; 3:11-12; 5:43; 7:36), when Jesus asks for silence, was merely circumstantial, so that in that moment He would not be misunderstood as a political Messiah.
From this we see an important consequence for our spiritual life: it is not knowledge that saves, but charity. Neither Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest geniuses of Christianity, nor Saint Augustine ever held that much knowledge leads to salvation. Saint Paul already said that “knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). A simple woman who serves her parish out of love may be closer to God than many who hold every academic title. This does not mean that the Church does not need holy doctors and the study of theology. It means that, if the Lord calls you to serve through the intellect, you must do so with the greatest possible love, for the good of your neighbor. Whoever is called to sweep the church every day, and does so with love, has as much worth before God as the one who teaches, because God Himself said that not even a cup of water offered will go without reward (cf. Mt 10:42).
And hidden holiness will also be revealed, even if only in Heaven. Saint Charbel, the Maronite monk of Lebanon, died without a reputation for holiness; not even his own brothers thought him a saint. It was only after his death, when his body was exhumed and found incorrupt, that they recognized what God had worked in that hidden life. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, in Carmel, seemed like any ordinary sister; when she died, someone even said there was “nothing to tell” about her. And yet God made of that littleness one of the greatest spiritualities of the Church. God acts through the little ones, and all that is done in secret, out of love, will be rewarded by Him.
3. The holy Fear of God
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Mt 10:28).
Here is the heart of this Gospel, and we must distinguish well. One thing is the fear of God; another, very different, is the holy Fear of God. We should not be afraid of God, because God is love, as Saint John insists in his first Letter and throughout the Gospel. The holy Fear of God is something else: it is the respect, the reverence, and the humility of recognizing our place as creatures before the Creator. Already in the Old Testament it was said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf. Prov 9:10; Ps 111(110):10), and Isaiah places it among the gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. Is 11:2-3). To have the holy Fear of God is to stand before Him knowing that He loves us and calls us to an upright, just, and charitable life, and to want to do His will out of love.
It is not God who casts anyone into hell; it is sin itself, when a person freely turns away from God to the very end. When Jesus speaks of the one who can destroy both soul and body, we remember that the first to cast himself into perdition is the sinner himself. What condemns us is sin, that voluntary separation from God who is love. That is why the Church values even imperfect repentance, so-called attrition, the sorrow born of fear of the consequences of sin; it is already valid and opens the way to perfect contrition, which is born of love (cf. CCC 1452-1453).
And how do we measure that love? The more we love someone, the more willing we are to sacrifice ourselves for them. A father and a mother lose nights of sleep over a sick child and do not even call it a sacrifice. It is worth asking ourselves sincerely: how much time do I spend before screens, and how much time do I spend before the Lord? And this is not to condemn ourselves, but to see where our heart really is. The same reflection applies to prayer. Whoever prays only to feel something places himself at the center of it. But it is always worth praying, even when we “feel” nothing. We should be like Mary of Bethany, who poured the most costly perfume at the feet of Jesus, without measuring how much it cost, but did so out of love for Jesus (cf. Jn 12:1-11).
4. You are worth more than many sparrows
“Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt 10:29-31).
This is the point that consoles us most. The liturgical text says “many sparrows,” and some translations have “all the sparrows.” But it makes no difference, for the “many” is contained within the “all,” as in that other passage which says that Jesus poured out His blood “for many” (Mt 26:28), which has the same meaning as for all. What the Lord affirms is that life has an infinite worth before God. And what is the measure of that worth? The price of the precious blood of Jesus. God sent His own Son, and He gave His life for us. This is the price of our ransom (cf. 1 Pet 1:18-19; 1 Cor 6:20).
Sadly, the world has lost the sense of the value of human life. Today’s society measures a person by what they produce, in a utilitarian logic in which time is money and whoever does not produce seems to be worth nothing. But the worth of a human being does not lie in what they can produce. It is not work that gives the human person dignity; rather the opposite: it is the human person who gives dignity to work. A baby still in the womb, an elderly person who no longer produces, a person in a coma: all have the same worth before God, and should have it also in the eyes of everyone. Whoever lacks the dimension of God’s love can hardly understand the worth of a person. Hence the urgency of evangelizing, of bringing the Good News of the Gospel to every creature. When I realize that I am loved by God, I also realize that He loves others, and I begin to love them as He loves them. This awareness is born only of love received and returned.
5. Whoever acknowledges me before others
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” (Mt 10:32-33).
The last point is witness, and here the final judgment returns to the fore. This earthly life will have an end; eternal life is forever, and there will be a judgment from which we cannot flee. But the one who will judge us is the Perfect Judge, who does not judge out of interest or bias, as so often happens on earth. God judges according to the heart and according to our actions. And the criterion will be love. As the Gospel says (cf. Mt 25:31-46), what we do to the least of the brethren we do to Him. And Saint John of the Cross sums it all up in this beautiful saying: “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love.” Let us also remember Saint John Chrysostom when he warns us: the Lord is among us, and often we do not recognize Him.
Therefore, it is never too late to love. If you are not yet loving enough, begin now, loving the one who is beside you, doing works of charity, especially toward those who cannot repay you anything. And a word of hope to end with: no one ceases to be tempted in this life, however holy they may be. Even the great saints fought against themselves to the very end. The secret is not to never sin again, but to recognize oneself a sinner and to receive God’s mercy every day. Whoever learns to confess, to accuse himself, and to be forgiven throughout life will come before God accustomed to receiving forgiveness. “Perfect love drives out all fear” (1 Jn 4:18), teaches Saint John, and “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8), Saint Peter reminds us. We do not deserve Heaven; it is mercy that saves us.
Steps of Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is the prayerful reading of the Word of God. Set aside a time of silence, invoke the Holy Spirit, and go calmly through these steps, praying yourself with the Word of God.
1. Reading (Lectio). What does the text say? Read attentively, more than once, the Gospel of this Sunday. Take your Bible or read the text in the description of the podcast video.
2. Meditation (Meditatio). What does the text say to me? Return to the five points above and let one word touch your heart: the “do not be afraid,” what “is hidden and will be revealed,” the “holy Fear of God,” how much “we are worth” before the Father, the “witness” before others.
3. Prayer (Oratio). What do I say to God from the text? Respond to the Lord in prayer, in your own words. Let the Holy Spirit pray in you and for you. Hand over to the Lord your fears and ask for the grace of a love that drives out all fear.
4. Contemplation (Contemplatio). What new way of seeing does God give me? Seek out a chapel with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in person or at least virtually, and remain in silence before the Lord, letting yourself be gazed upon by Him, who counts even the hairs of your head and knows you by your name.
5. Action (Actio). To what is the Lord calling me today? Make a concrete resolution: overcome a fear in order to bear witness to the faith, return to confession, or perform an act of charity toward someone who cannot repay you. And share this Word with someone in your family or among your friends. Write it all down in your prayer notebook.
Until next week!
Shalom!
From Monday to Saturday, we have a short video; on Sunday, our podcast with the Sunday Gospel for you to meditate and pray. Subscribe to the channel and invite others, so that more people may love the Word of God. Leave your “like” and share it with your friends. God bless you. Shalom!
Podcast video: https://youtu.be/OZREHKqeuZs
