11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily (2026)
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Exodus 19:2-6a
Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5 (3c)
Romans 5:6-11
Matthew 9:36-10:8
June 14, 2026
After God led his people out of Egypt, Moses “went up the mountain to God.” There, in prayer, Moses conversed with God. Prayer for Moses was not just him telling God what he wanted. Moses listened to God and let God lead what he did. We need to do the same in prayer.
God told Moses to remind the people what He had done to the Egyptians for making His people slaves and how He led the Israelites to freedom. God does not make us slaves. God sets us free.
We should not take this for granted. The reality is that not everyone gets into Heaven. Jesus tells us that many will try but few will enter.
If, in our freedom, we choose to hearken to God’s voice and keep his covenant (avoid sin), then we will enjoy life as his “special possession.”
We may fall short and sin. Then, we can be grateful that Jesus died to save us from our sins. When we sin, we just need to our sins them with a repentant heart. If we do our best to live as his people, He will always tend us as his flock.
You don’t have to be perfect in human terms. Look at who the Twelve Apostles were. They were handpicked by Jesus but they were not perfect.
Peter would deny knowing Jesus three times to save his own life when Jesus was arrested. (Ultimately, Peter would be martyred for his faith).
James and John sought places of honor for themselves even as Jesus told them of his coming suffering and Crucifixion.
We know Thomas’ faith was not perfect because he doubted when the other disciples told them they had seen the risen Christ.
Matthew was a tax collector. We do not know of his personal sins but tax collectors in those days were known to overcharge and keep the extra for themselves as thieves.
Last of all, there was Judas who would betray Jesus.
Jesus knows we are sinners. He loves us anyway.
He sees our sinfulness and is moved with pity for us. He knows when we feel “troubled and abandoned.”
Sometimes we sin and/or commit crimes because we did not have people leading us to what is good. We need a shepherd who cares for us.
Jesus is the good shepherd. He loves us.
As Paul wrote, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us…while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.”
Sometimes people get the mistaken impression that when they sin and desire to return to God that they have to fix their sins themselves first. They would be wrong.
We cannot save ourselves. It is Christ who, “while we were still helpless,” died for us on the Cross as our Savior.”
So, the first thing we should do when we recognize our sin is to run to God to confess our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this Sacrament, not only will God forgive you. He will also give you grace to help you become better. It may take a long time but it will happen if we allow it and make effort towards changing.
We need to use the grace to turn our hearts to our Lord. We need to open ourselves to what God tells us to do. We need to give everything over to God, even our weaknesses.
When you give your weaknesses over to God, He will take them, and with his grace, use them to make your life and the lives of others better.
Are you willing to let God change you or, even when you recognize what you have done wrong, are you set in your ways?
Are you willing to let God work through your weaknesses to proclaim that his Kingdom is at hand to others?
Are you willing to let others around you who have sinned change or do you abandon them as sinners forever?
God can save each and every one of us. He can do it and He wants to do it because He loves us. Are you ready to let God change you one step at a time?