Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 10:26-33
THE EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN QUEBEC CITY IS ENDING THIS WEEKEND. FATHER REILLY AND OUR BISHOP, AND 66 OTHER PEOPLE FROM OUR DIOCESE ARE THERE. THE CONGRESS WAS PRIVILEGED TO HEAR AN ADDRESS FROM ELIZABETH NGUYEN THI THU HONG, THE YOUNGEST SISTER OF CARDINAL FRANCIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN, WHO DIED IN 2002, AND IS A CANDIDATE FOR BEATIFICATION. HE WAS APPOINTED BISHOP OF HO CHI MIN CITY IN VIET NAM SHORTLY BEFORE THE COMMUNISTS TOOK OVER. HE WAS IMPRISONED FOR NINE YEARS, SIX OF WHICH WERE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. HE WAS ALLOWED TO CORRESPOND WITH SOME OF HIS FRIENDS, AND REQUESTED THAT THEY SEND HIM SOME MEDICINE FOR HIS STOMACH, THE KIND HE TOOK EVERY MORNING. THEY SENT HIM WINE IN A BOTTLE LABELED “STOMACH MEDICINE” AND FRAGMENTS OF EUCHARISTIC BREAD. WHILE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, HE WOULD SAY MASS EVERY DAY WITH THESE ELEMENTS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PRISON POPULATION, HE GATHERED TOGETHER CATHOLIC PRISONERS AND WOULD SAY MASS FOR THEM IN SECRET, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT; AND HE CONTINUED TO MINISTER NOT ONLY TO CATHOLICS, BUT TO ANY PRISONER WHO NEEDED HIM. DURING ALL THIS TIME, HE CORRESPONDED WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND THE GENERAL TONE OF HIS WRITINGS WERE THAT HE WAS NOT AFRAID, HE WAS CONTENT, HE WAS IN FACT HAPPY, BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP OF JESUS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED AND EXILED FROM VIET NAM, HE BECAME THE PREFECT IN CHARGE OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION IN THE VATICAN, A JOB HE HELD UNTIL HE DIED.
CARDINAL VAN THUAN TOOK JESUS' TEACHING LITERALLY; “DO NOT LET MEN INTIMIDATE YOU; WHAT I TELL YOU IN DARKNESS, SPEAK IN THE LIGHT; DON'T FEAR THOSE WHO CAN DESTROY THE BODY; IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE YOU BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.
HAVE YOU AND I IDENTIFIED OUR FEARS? WE ALL HAVE THEM. I FEAR GROWING OLD, AND LOSING MY STRENGTH, MY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES. I FEAR WHETHER I WILL HAVE ENOUGH TO HAVE A COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT. I FEAR WHETHER OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO LAST, OR WHETHER, AS IT SEEMS MORE AND MORE LIKELY, IT IS GOING TO IMPLODE AS WE CAN'T AFFORD ENERGY, AS THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR INCREASES, AS VIOLENCE BECOMES PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES. I COULD MAKE ALONG LIST OF MY FEARS, WHICH I MOSTLY TRY TO IGNORE, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN ONE OF THEM WILL SURFACE LIKE A GHOST IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, AND REMIND ME HOW FRAGILE EVERYTHING IS.
BUT FEAR IS NOT CHRISTIAN. JESUS TELLS US, HE COMMANDS US, NOT TO FEAR, NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED. AND HE TELLS US HOW. HE SAYS, MAKE IT YOUR BUSINESS TO PROCLAIM WHAT HE HAS REVEALED TO YOU. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR, TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS, WITH YOUR WORDS, WITH YOUR LIFE. THE GOOD NEWS WILL BE PROCLAIMED, WHETHER YOU DO IT OR NOT. BUT IF YOU DO IT, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS BEFORE MEN, AND JESUS PROMISES THAT THIS WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN. HE ASSURES US THAT NO POWER EXCEPT THE FATHER CAN AFFECT US WHERE WE REALLY LIVE, IN THAT PART OF OUR BEING WE CALL OUR SOUL. AND HE REMINDS US THAT THE FATHER LOOKS AT EACH ONE OF US WITH GREAT LOVE, AND CARES ABOUT EVERY HAIR ON OUR HEADS, EVERYTHING ABOUT US, GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD. IN ANOTHER PART OF SCRIPTURE, IT SAYS THAT THE FATHER TAKES DELIGHT IN US.
AND FEAR IS WHAT KEEPS US FROM DOING WHAT JESUS ASKS. CAN YOU THINK OF ANY TIME DURING THE PAST WEEK WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT? WHEN YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? I CAN. THIS LAST WEEK, I'VE HURT A FEW FEELINGS – VERY UNCHRISTIAN; I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK UP WHEN SOMEONE MADE AN IGNORANT REMARK ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT TIME OR PLACE. I COULD TELL THAT ONE OF MY CO-WORKERS WAS TROUBLED, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED, SO I ACTED AS THOUGH I WASN'T AWARE OF HER PROBLEM. I AM SURE THAT IF YOU LOOK AT YOUR WEEK, YOU COULD THINK OF TIMES WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT AS WELL.
JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD AND DESIGNATED HIS APOSTLES TO BEGIN THE GREAT WORK OF BRINGING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. THE KINGDOM WILL COME, THAT IS A PROMISE. AND IT WILL COME BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES, OF THE SAINTS, OF YOU AND I. THE KINGDOM, IN FACT, IS WHAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE FOR – AND IT IS FOR US HUMAN BEINGS. THE KINGDOM IS PEACE, AND JUSTICE, AND SUFFICIENT RESOURCES FOR ALL, SO THAT EVERY PERSON CAN REALIZE ALL OF HIS OR HER HUMAN POTENTIAL. BUT PERHAPS THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC OF THE KINGDOM IS THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN IT WILL HAVE NO FEAR BECAUSE THE WORDS JESUS SPEAKS TODAY WILL BE PART OF THEIR MAKE-UP; THEY WILL BE MUCH MORE THAN WORDS, THEY WILL BE AT THE CORE OF OUR LIVES. AND THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN ENTER THAT KINGDOM NOW, EVEN IF NO ONE ELSE DOES.
SO WHAT ARE YOUR FEARS? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? AND FINALLY, AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE KINGDOM, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR IT? BECAUSE THAT IS THE BEGINNING – TO IMAGINE THE WORLD THAT COULD BE, THAT SHOULD BE, THE WORLD WHERE JESUS IS KING AND THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN, AND THERE IS NO FEAR.