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At first hearing, this Gospel may seem somewhat jarring. However, its central theme is not unfamiliar. It echoes the foundation of our faith. Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and that the second is to love your neighbor as yourself, as found in Matthew 22:36–40. At the same time, Scripture also calls us to honor our father and mother, and we recall the powerful account of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. Across these passages, a consistent thread emerges: God is to be the most important relationship in our lives. As we have noted before, Jesus often used strong and even extreme language to emphasize his message.

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The early Christian community lived with significant fear—fear of rejection, persecution, and uncertainty about God’s presence in their suffering. That experience remains familiar today. While Scripture frequently refers to the “fear of the Lord,” it is noteworthy that this exact expression does not appear in the Gospels. Traditionally, it has been understood as reverence rather than terror. Even as a child, I recall questioning this language—why speak of “fear” when “reverence” seems clearer? That tension highlights how easily fear can be misunderstood in both faith and life.

From a psychological perspective, fear is often at the root of many human struggles. It can manifest as pride, driven by fear of insignificance or weakness; as anger or violence, rooted in perceived threat or humiliation; as deceit, arising from fear of exposure or rejection; and even in forms of sexual behaviour that attempt to compensate for loneliness or inadequacy. Recognizing fear beneath these patterns can be important, particularly when we are trying to understand or forgive others.

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In this Gospel, Jesus sends out his disciples to minister to the people. We don’t know exactly at what point in Jesus ministry did he send out the disciples. We have many references to Jesus sending out his disciples to evangelize people from different cultures. I want to draw your attention to several points made in this reading. Jesus instructs them not to go to pagan territory. He is more specific when he cautions his disciples not to go into a Samaritan town. This is very unexpected as we have many scriptural references to Jesus visiting Samaria.

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