Reflection for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Year A

Fear can be overwhelming, and so it is very comforting when Jesus says, “Do not be afraid!” He is speaking to us directly; urgently, repeatedly, tenderly, and lovingly. We read in the Gospel that Jesus is sending his disciples into a world that will resist and question them. Before they go, He gives them a gift: freedom from fear. Three times in this short passage he repeats the same
command, and in Scripture, repetition is never accidental. This is an urgent message.

“Fear no one.” Not those who hold power and not those who can harm the body. The one to hold in reverence is God alone, and that reverence is not cowering fear, but awe before the One who is also our Father. The Good News we carry is not meant to be whispered; it is meant to be  proclaimed from the rooftops. When fear makes us go silent, it works against the very mission we have been given.

Then Jesus offers something breathtaking in its tenderness. He points to sparrows, the
smallest birds of the marketplace, sold for the value of pennies. Not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. You, he says, are worth far more than many sparrows; even the hairs of your head are counted. This is a claim about the nature of God: the One who holds the cosmos in perfect order also holds you, individually and by name.

Jesus closes with a word about fidelity: “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.” Discipleship is not a private arrangement. It has a public dimension. We are sent. We are to speak. The men and women of the early Church lived this as a daily reality. Countless martyrs faced precisely the choice Jesus describes; either acknowledge Him or deny Him. In the face of death, they chose to acknowledge Him.

We hear the same struggle in our First Reading. Jeremiah has been ridiculed; his friends have turned against him. Yet in prayer he finds confidence: “The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion.” He overcomes fear by anchoring himself in the One who is greater than his fear. That is exactly the movement Jesus invites us to make. 

So, what does that mean for us? The proclamation he calls us to is rarely dramatic. More  often it looks like someone who prays before a meal without embarrassment, who speaks gently of hope in the middle of despair, who says, “I will pray for you” and means it. Sharing your faith does not require eloquence. It requires only that we do not hide.

God loves you. You are known, chosen, and loved with a love that does not waver. You are strengthened so that you can speak. The Gospel you carry is worth proclaiming from every rooftop and in every ordinary moment of your beautiful life. Do not be afraid to help others know Christ.

Deacon Anthony Cioe

2026 South Jersey Catholic Ministries Appeal

By supporting the 2026 South Jersey Catholic Ministries Appeal, you are supporting many programs and ministries of the Diocese of Camden and Saints Peter & Paul Parish. These ministries serve the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the hungry and challenged. When you support the South Jersey Catholic Ministries Appeal, you offer comfort to those in your parish, your community, and throughout the entire Diocese.

This year’s theme, “Missionaries of Mercy,” supports the social and spiritual needs of our 62 parishes and 29 schools, with social services, hospital chaplaincy, youth & teen campus ministries, Catholic education, pastoral care initiatives, vocations, and faith formation programs. 

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