Word Wide Open: The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - 6/21/26

First Reading (Jeremiah 20:10-13)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah said:

"I hear the whisperings of many:

'Terror on every side!

Denounce! let us denounce him!'

All those who were my friends

are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,

and take our vengeance on him.'

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.

In their failure they will be put to utter shame,

to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,

who probe mind and heart,

let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to the LORD,

praise the LORD,

for he has rescued the life of the poor

from the power of the wicked!"

 

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How does the Lord punish the wicked and lift up the Holy ones?

Second Reading (Romans 5:12-15)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.  

Brothers and sisters:

Through one man sin entered the world,

and through sin, death,

and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—

for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,

though sin is not accounted when there is no law.

But death reigned from Adam to Moses,

even over those who did not sin

after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,

who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression.

For if by the transgression of the one the many died,

how much more did the grace of God

and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ

overflow for the many.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does original sin cause in our lives?

Gospel (Matthew 10:26-33)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Jesus said to the Twelve:

"Fear no one.

Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,

nor secret that will not be known.

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;

what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And 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.

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.

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."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why is it so easy to let anxiety overwhelm us? How do we acknowledge our heavenly Father?