Readings and meditation on the Word of God on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 21st, 2026

Delivered by Kezia, Cherilyn, and Bryan from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Jeremiah 20: 10-13; Rs psalm 69: 8-10.14.17.33-35; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33.DO NOT BE AFRAID The theme for our meditation today is: Do not BeAfraid. There is a husband and his wife who have only been married for one yearand already have a son. Each of them had a habit of fear before they gotmarried. The husband used to be afraid of blood. He could not stand to seefresh blood flowing directly from the body of human or animal. He could noteven see firsthand the birth of his son. The wife used to be afraid being aloneand in a dark place. She always had relatives or friends who accompanied herall the time. But after the birth of their first child, they bothdecided to abandon the habit of having unnecessary fear. Their decision had amotivation which is essential, namely for the education and growth of the firstchild and others to be born later. They are very aware that what are in them asparents and what they actually do will bring big influence to the children. Ifparents have unreasonable fears, they will influence children to behave in thesame way. The Lord Jesus teaches us not to be afraid, as part ofHis proclamation of the gospel. He reveals this command to strengthen our faithin Him. For this purpose, he gives us this command 365 times. If there are 365days a year, every day has one "Don't be afraid" command or warningthat we must obey and put into practice. Why is this command "Don't be afraid" soimportant for us? Because this is the real life of the Lord Jesus ChristHimself. He himself was not afraid of anyone and anything related to the worldand humans. He was not even afraid of His own death. He wants us to follow hisexample. It's useless He commands us to do, but He did not do it himself. WhatJesus did was also done by the prophet Jeremiah and Saint Paul. And we all havecommitment in faith to do it too. God's command "Don't be afraid" is meant toprevent us from being so easily afraid. This command is the most frequentlyviolated, because by nature we humans are cowards. We inherit fear from thefirst humans who had fallen into sin. We also have the nature of fear asanimals when our environment is disturbed by others. In this world and especially around us there are manytrials and threats of enemies, both visible and invisible. So the Lord Jesusassures us not to be afraid, because he leads our lives. If our lives are trulywith Him, fear becomes impossible. Let'spray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ... OJesus, may with this Sunday celebration, we can overcome all fears in thisworld and give comfort to one another. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the nameof the Father ...