This coming weekend is the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Last week (2023), with the celebration of the 11th Sunday, we returned to Ordinary Time in the liturgical sense. Depending on the year (leap year or no), the phase of the moon (seriously – that is in part how Easter is determined) and some other celebrations you may or may not have encountered the readings from the 9th, 10th or 11th Sundays in Ordinary Time. Here is a quick overview and context.

9th Sunday (Matthew 7:21-27)
The end of the Sermon on the Mount and its discourse on the deeper, fuller meaning of the Law and righteousness, Jesus says to the disciples: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Mt 7:24-25)

10th Sunday (Matthew 9:9-13)
Mt 8:1 to 9:38 is Matthew’s description of the powerful deeds of Jesus, nine in all, interspersed between is the theme of discipleship. Mt 9:9-13 is the call of Matthew, the tax collector, to follow Jesus as a disciple. Jesus also describes the intrinsic nature of his mission: “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mt 9:13)

11th Sunday (Matthew 9:36 – 10:8)
This reading is the story of sending out the disciples: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36) They are commissioned but asked to stay within Galilee and not go to the Samaritans or Gentiles. They are told they are to “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons” (Mt 10:8)

The first verses of Matthew 10 describe Jesus’ sending the disciples on mission: the names of the Twelve, their commissioning (vv. 5:15), and a warning of the persecutions they will face (vv.16-25). It is after this warning that the opening verse of our reading has its meaning: “Therefore do not be afraid of them.”

Image credit: Image credit: The Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter), c. 1636-40, by Nicholas Poussin, Public Domain