12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
21 June 2026
Lectio Divina:
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Meditatio:
‘..Do
not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who
can destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matthew 10:28)
Commentary:
This Sunday’s readings provide a rich set of resources. I find them particularly apt for several
reasons related to timing as well as the recent political context. Let me ‘proclaim from the house-tops’ what I
have heard in whispers. Let me ‘proclaim from the housetops’ what I have heard
in whispers: today is The Day for Life. And, it is Father’s Day at least in this part of the world.
One sentence in the statement on the Day for Life caught my attention in
particular:
This understanding, however, is not complete without the recognition that, from the beginning, every human being is not just a body but also an immortal soul, with a unique and eternal connection with God, our Creator.
What I have heard is a call to human dignity, respect, the equality
of all human beings and the providential care of a loving God who loves all
that he has created. Loss of human life
is always a tragedy especially in circumstances of sudden death, trauma or
natural illness. Many parents experience grief and loss when an unborn child is
lost to them for whatever reason. I know this because my mother and father lost
several of my siblings before birth due to natural miscarriage. It had its impact on them even though they
hardly ever spoke about it to me.
When I hear the words of Jesus again:
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (10:28)
...I receive a jolt. It
is like the touch of a live electrical current.
How can I be the same again after hearing this and realising its import? On an average day, millions of people are
being killed – as a direct result of poverty, inadequate healthcare,
environmental destruction, war, genocide, domestic violence, drug feuds and ...
abortion. The challenge is that as a
society and a Church we find it easy to talk about all of the above except
abortion. To admit that it involves the deliberate taking of an innocent,
vulnerable and defenceless human life is unthinkable. Instead, society finds other language and
terminology to cover up the truth of abortion.
But, ‘for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing
secret that will not become known’ (10:26).
Eventually, the truth catches up with individuals and societies. In our
own time, we have seen whole societies collapse as truth and lies collided
(such as in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe the late 1980s).
If it is true – and I believe it is – that abortion kills
the body but not the soul of an unborn child then what of the souls of those
who profit from killing a child financially or politically? I am not speaking of mothers who find themselves
in desperate situations, who are abandoned by partner or society and feel they
have no choice but to abort. I am
speaking of those who are complicit in so many ways by reason of material
cooperation, encouragement and deliberate choice in the face of all the
evidence about the humanity of the unborn child and the barbarity of the
procedures involved in ending its life.
Size, age and capacity are not the measures of one’s dignity or
right to life.
This needs to be called out by all good people of good
intention. And, all the more must it be called out by people of faith who
believe that God became one of us in the womb of Mary. An attack on one child
is an attack on Jesus. What is done to the least of these is done to Him (Matthew
25:31-46).
Nobody - nobody - is excluded from God’s mercy. There is, always, a way forward through
mercy, forgiveness and healing. We do not walk the path another walks and we
must never condemn or judge any person. At the same time, we must speak
up and act to defend the life of the voiceless, the defenceless. To put it another way we need to not only
care for the bodies of those human beings aborted but the souls of those who
intentionally carried out the act.
Will any of us have the courage to use our talents and
experiences to speak lovingly, sensitively and compassionately about the
difficult subject of human life?
Are we using our abilities to create a more just and
compassionate society where mothers and fathers do not have to feel that they
have no other choice?
Are there days when you feel like crying out in despair
using the words of the psalmist from today’s reading:
You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonour; my foes are all known to you. Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. (Psalm 69:19-20a)
Might we even be prepared to lose a job, reputation or
friends over abortion in very particular circumstances?
Are we ready for the shame of being falsely accused of being
cruel, heartless and misogynistic as well as allegedly indifferent to the needs
of women because we seek to ‘love both’?
Again and again, the Bible tells us as it does in today’s
Gospel reading: ‘do not be afraid’ (Matthew 10:31). Like the prophet, Jeremiah, we need to hear
the call once again: ‘for to you I have committed my cause’ (20:12). If we are to speak up and act out for all
human life – consistently – then we can certainly expect opposition,
misunderstanding and misrepresentation.
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be. However, if we believe
that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and life then as Jesus reminds us in
today’s Gospel ‘everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also
will acknowledge before my Father in heaven’ (10:32). We can rest assured of
Jesus’s words that ‘even the hairs of your head are all counted’. He will not abandon us in trials and
difficulties and we are precious in his sight just as the countless number of
pure souls delivered up every day are.
Saint Paul hits the nail on the head in today’s second
reading:
….. just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned…for if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.
Nobody can throw stones or condemn. We, too, have participated one way or another
in the circumstances, attitudes and societal choices that have forced so many
to take the lives of the unborn. The answer
is in Christ Jesus whose free gift of mercy and grace is there for those who
turn to him.
There is, however, one important addendum to this very
pro-life reading of the scripture readings for this Sunday for Life. Abortion is not the only issue facing
humanity. Climate change, war, the rise of fascism and the breakdown in public
order and social cohesion as a result of economic inequality, racism and
concentration of power by the information oligarchs demand that Christians
respond. Yes, the right of life is a
primary and pre-eminent right without which nothing else can stand. However, some well-meaning Christians and
Catholics have gone down the wrong political paths sometimes with the best of intentions making
it a thousand times more difficult to reach people on the issue of life.
We need to set our eyes on Jesus and follow him. Today’s
scripture readings give us encouragement and bread for this difficult journey.
A prayer:
A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.
Pope Saint John Paul IIEvangelium Vitae
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