Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 20:10–13; Romans 5:12–15; Matthew 10:26–33
Once I was bringing fifty Bibles to a friend who lived in a country where Christians were a tiny minority and still faced the possibility of persecution.
I was pretending to be courageous, but I was afraid.
My imagination showed me images of being discovered, questioned, and perhaps put in prison.
My fear almost became panic when, after arriving in the capital, I saw my luggage marked by customs officers.
I did not know what to do.
For a moment, I was tempted to leave the luggage behind.
Then, suddenly, a man entered the airport and introduced himself.
He had been sent by my friend.
He spoke with the customs officers. One hour later, the Bibles were in my friend’s hands.
“Do not be afraid,” Jesus says three times in today’s Gospel.
And He gives the reason:
“You are worth more than many sparrows.”
Not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing.
This is God’s providence.
God’s loving care is not vague. It is concrete. It is personal. It reaches the great events of history and the small fears of our lives.
Yet our hearts are often filled with fear.
We fear people. We fear the future. We fear suffering. We fear losing control.
And when we see so much evil in the world, our faith begins to shake.
Wars. Earthquakes. Floods. Persecution. Illness. Unexpected loss.
We ask: If God is good, why does He allow this?
If God is powerful, why does He not stop it?
The Bible does not give us an easy answer.
But it gives us a path of trust.
Joseph could say to his brothers:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20).
God is able to draw good even out of evil.
He showed this most perfectly in the death and resurrection of His Son.
The cross was the darkest evil. But God made it the source of salvation.
This is why the words “Jesus, I trust in You” are not sentimental.
They are a battle cry against fear.
The hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” was born from such trust.
Civilla Martin once visited a suffering couple in New York.
Mrs. Doolittle had been confined to bed for more than twenty years. Her husband was also partly disabled and worked from a wheelchair.
Yet their faces were filled with joy.
When asked how they could be so joyful, Mrs. Doolittle answered:
“How can I be discouraged when my heavenly Father watches over each little sparrow, and I know He loves and cares for me?”
From that witness came the song:
“His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”
That is the faith Jesus asks from us today.
Not a faith without fear, but a faith stronger than fear.
Not a life without suffering, but a life held in the Father’s care.
So when fear rises, when the future is uncertain, when evil seems loud, let us remember the sparrow.
The Father sees.
The Father knows.
The Father cares.
And His eyes are on us.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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