Commentary on the Readings: 12 OT A

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, A

Jeremiah 20: 10-13

Psalm 69

Romans 5: 12-15

Matthew 10: 26-33



Last week, the readings centered on being called; this week, they center on the difficulties that result from being called. The First Reading, from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, describes the difficulties encountered by the prophet in his attempt to do God’s will. The Responsorial Psalm, in its first stanza, hears not only an echo of Jeremiah’s fate, but a foreshadowing of what will happen to Jesus in His passion: “For your sake, I bear insult, and shame covers my face. I have become an outcast to my brothers, a stranger to my mother’s children, because zeal for Your house consumes me, and the insults of those who blaspheme You fall upon me.” The Gospel continues with Jesus’ commissioning of the Twelve from last week, warning of the difficulties they will face in their proclamation of the Kingdom. He also gives them a “blessing and curse” ending to their commission: “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.” In discussing this passage, St. Augustine of Hippo preached, “Not only had Jesus said, ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul’—He also left them His own example. The precept He laid upon them, He personally carried out, without attempting to evade scourging and blows and spittle.” (Ennarationes in Psalmos 69)



Our in-course reading of Romans continues today, building on where we left off last week. Paul contrasts Adam, the first man, with the “one man Jesus Christ.” In the first, we find transgression, sin, and death; in the second, we find obedience, grace, and life. While Paul calls Adam and his transgression a “type” of Jesus, “the one to come,” he also states that God’s gift in Christ far surpasses the sin of Adam: “How much more did the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many!”



You can hear the Communion Antiphon for this Sunday, which is taken from the Gospel Reading---"Quod dico vobis"---on the compact disc "Music for the Year of Matthew," sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop, available from The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN (www.litpress.org).