Reflection for Sunday – June 21, 2026

Readings: Jeremiah 20: 10-13; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 
Preacher: Liz Maurer Webster

Our Gospel reading today begins… “Jesus said to the Twelve: ‘Fear no one.’”

I don’t know about you, but in our current world, I fear a lot of people… people who use violence as a way to solve disagreements; people who want to control me by demonizing those they do not like because “they” (the demonized) do not believe in the same things we do; people who castigate those who follow Jesus’ admonition to “Love one another as I have loved you;” people who are bullies… and the list goes on.

Fear is a powerful emotion!  For a moment, I ask you to recall a time in your life when you were overcome with fear…

What were the physical sensations you felt?  Were there other emotions that came along with the fear? What helped you to overcome your fear or did it consume you for a long period?  Were you able to work through your fear to move forward?

Years ago, when our younger son was a young teen he began to have extreme abdominal pain.  After three appointments, our pediatrician pulled me aside and said, “Mrs. Webster, due to the diverse nature of Andy’s symptoms, I believe this will be a long diagnostic process. Eventually one thing will rise to the top and we will address that, and then another, and then maybe another.”  The first was his gallbladder… it was removed.  Done?  No!  Again, he began to be in abdominal pain… a different kind of pain but even more concerning because no one seemed to know what was causing it!

Have you ever watched someone you love in pain and there is nothing you can do to alleviate it?  The fear of his dying was constant for me, from whatever this ailment was.

I shared our affliction with trusted members of our parish and family and friends, I prayed and many others prayed for him and us. I walked a lot and sometimes I yelled at God!  Through it all, I came to know in the center of my being, that God was with us in the midst as I came to say.  I placed Andy, our precious son, in God’s hands!  While the fear and anxiety remained, it became manageable.  I knew that unless we found the right doctor to diagnose the issue and then he/she had the right answers to treat it this might not end well.  I asked God to be with us… no matter what!  And God was!  God led us to the right doctors; a successful surgery was performed and after two more years of diagnostics for other issues, Andy was able to catch up to his original class and graduate from college on time. In July he turns 35, he is married with two amazing children and has just got a promotion at work.

The outcome could have been death.  I feared that, as many parents right now at hospitals across the country fear that for their precious children. Yet, because of my experience, I know God would have been with us… no matter what and is with each and every parent facing similar unknown health outcomes with their child right now!

I share this because in today’s Gospel Jesus tells the Twelve, “Fear no one.”  Go out and spread the Good News… Fear nothing… not loss of family or friends… not loss of your reputation… not even physical harm… or even death!  Jesus knows his disciples then and now will experience hardships by proclaiming that God is love … that God loves every single human being… God’s love is inclusive… And if you follow Jesus’ commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” there will be adversity!  Yet, Jesus promises that he, God, will be with you… no matter what!

Matthew continues our Gospel with: “Be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  The devil is stealthy.  As Louis J. Cameli’s examines in his book, The Devil You Don’t Know, evil often shows itself in less obvious, quiet ways by using the tactics of deception, division, diversion and discouragement. How can we tell when evil is at work?  Is love present… the kind of love Jesus asks us to have for one another?  If not, then evil probably is at work.

Jesus wants his disciples to know that while evil may seem to have power over them [us], and the situations in which they find themselves, in the end, God will make everything right, all will be brought into the light.  We may not know how or when this will happen, but Jesus asks his disciples and us to have faith that it will happen. 

And as Jeremiah proclaims at the end of his lament in today’s first reading:

“Sing to the Lord,
    praise the Lord,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
    from the power of the wicked!”