Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 19th June, 2005, at 11.00am

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today you and I are invited by Christ to consider how we are managing as his followers.

Jesus says that being a disciple will be inherently challenging, that others may oppose us, but we are not to be afraid. We expect to face the same doubt and rejection and controversy and conflict as Jesus was and yet Jesus’ care and teaching gave courage to the apostles.

It is that same courage that we invoke as we call to mind our sins and ask ourselves, am I a true disciple, what priority does Jesus and his truth have in my daily life?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

So many of us can remember events, challenges faced and carried through, which have been a turning point in our life.

In each of these three Readings today there is a transition from fear to hope and joy. The reason for this is that the Gospel is a force, which opposes every kind of evil, making us in the Church not turn aside from the narrow gateway of Easter and the Cross, which leads to glory.

Though we must suffer in our lives and often be misunderstood and rejected, Jesus is strong in his consoling words, ‘Do not be afraid. What is hidden will now be uncovered. What you hear in whisper, proclaim on the housetops. Why, every hair on your head has been counted.’ Then the ultimate promise, ‘If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father.’

There are many people who find there are turning points in our lives, where we have to face the reality of what we are and go forward or we simply falter and fail. Today is one of those turning points. What does following Jesus mean to me? How real is he and despite the effort and challenge, how can we witness to him?

Notice in the first Reading fear turned to trust and desperation to dependence on God. In the world, as Paul tells us, before Jesus there was sin and death. Now we have God’s gracious, saving gifts.

Our God wonderfully and generously has made this turn possible. With our knowledge of God’s care we, like the disciples, can make the transition from fear to fearless service and from disorientation to a new orientation towards life.

It might be put this way. If we love some person or some thing, suddenly everything changes because we see the value of what we can do. God’s care for us as believers shows both our responsibility, when Jesus says, ‘every hair on your head has been counted’, and then the remarkable, practical words, ‘You are worth more than a flock of sparrows. Do not be afraid of anything.’

This means that if we love, if we know Jesus, then we go on the offensive. Jesus tells us not to be afraid of anything because as Soren Kirchegaard wrote, ‘Fear is the source of every sin and when the frost of fear forms over our limbs we become immobilised, no matter how willing, we are simply unable to do the good we want.’ If God takes care of sparrows, then he takes care of us, but our challenge is to acknowledge him before people.

Dear friends, we remember that our God is both terrifying and fascinating. We both fear and love his name because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and only perfect love casts out fear. Today we can advance in that love and take the promise that Jesus gives us, not to be afraid, but ever to move forward. We may work our salvation out in fear and trembling, but we also have the assurance that all will be well. Our challenge is to live by the spirit of truth whom the Lord said will be his witness, just as we, living by that truth, are called to be his witnesses, knowing the surety of his presence.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.