Turning Light into Life
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 21, 2026
Do you get annoyed or disappointed with yourself when you respond with anger, to someone who has provoked you? Or you wonder how to help people who respond to you with anger when you ask a question or gently try to correct their behaviour? Our world seems to be becoming more ‘angry’ and less tolerant of outsiders, sometimes even our family members.
One of our greatest challenges, is how to stay positive and helpful to our community; and even to the individuals who have caused us some pain. How can we continue to maintain that Christ-like response, that Jesus invites us to do? The readings today can be helpful if we are open to receiving them, rather than continuing to nurse self-righteous anger.
Prophets are less about the future and more about how to understand the reality in which we live. Jeremiah feels surrounded by enemies trying to get rid of him: but he courageously says: “The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior.” He knew he was not alone because he had a strong relationship with God: strong enough that he used to complain to God.
We all need a regular ‘spiritual director’ (ie. not blabbing to different people all the time), who can listen, validate but, also, gently challenge our feelings. These encounters with a trusted person can encourage and help us feel that even God cares about the hurt we have received:
- like Jeremiah, we will be able to renew our energy and respond to people in a good way. And, in that way, we bring to life the Second Reading, reminding us that, in Christ, we can rise above the negativity of others (the sin of Adam), and reveal God’s Grace (the free gift).
As the theologians like to say: God’s grace, in Christ, conquers sin and death. Here death = loss of hope; a descent into bitterness, which drives us away from our friends, leading us into a loneliness and loss of Hope. Remembering here, that the word ‘Christ’ is not just another name for Jesus, but Jesus and His bride the Church (the two became one).
Meaning, that it’s not just supernatural grace miraculously falling down from Heaven to lift us up, but it’s also the grace received through our brothers & sisters (trusted ‘spiritual directors’).
One of the reasons Jeremiah and Jesus were both able to weather the insults and hardships caused by others is that they both had high emotional intelligence. In the Oblate world, there is the expression: “we see the world through the eyes of Christ.” I believe the two are the same.
To see the world through the eyes of Christ, is to see the suffering and fears hidden inside of the persons we are dealing with, rather than focusing on their external actions and words. We can then response in a way that helps the other person feel safer, validated or empowered.
Jesus, like a good army commander, then gives us our marching orders in the Gospel: do not fear those who oppose you. God knows each of you, just like God knows every sparrow and hair your head: “Do not be afraid… acknowledge me before others.”
As “bad” or “difficult” as the world feels today, there is still much goodness: God’s grace is everywhere, from the ‘widows’ putting in their small contributions, to the mums caring for their children, to the dads sweating long hours to support their family on a minimum wage.
And, when we recognise these actions as God’s grace in the world, we can develop a more positive attitude and gain the courage needed to continue the journey. But it’s not easy: eg. how many of us Religious complain about many things, but rarely acknowledge/ appreciate the many basics we have, that others do not: guaranteed food, accommodation and medical care.
This is why the cross and resurrection are so crucial in our mind-set: when Jesus rose from the dead, he focused on life-giving actions by recognising the goodness of the Apostles, rather than dwelling on the evil people who made him suffer. Can we do the same? This topic reminds me of a recent scientific discovery about how life really developed on the earth.
Quantamagazine – An Early Step on the Long, Strange Road to Photosynthesis
Every second, trillions of watts of solar energy (10,000 times the energy used by us) blast the Earth’s surface. …2.4 billion years ago, …when bacteria learned to harness these photons to break apart water molecules and stitch carbon atoms into sugars. …they flooded Earth’s atmosphere with oxygen… “The oxygen-evolving capability was a big innovation. I sometimes call that a singular event,” said Robert Blankenship, a retired biochemist… “By all accounts, it only happened once during the process of evolution, and that really set up the world for becoming oxygenated and the wholly aerobic world that we live in now.”
Photosynthesis is the process of turning light into life. Just one crucial intervention by God changed the future of the world by allowing photosynthesis to begin: in the same way, one crucial change in our reactions can transform the other person, ourselves and our relationship forever. Can we find a trusted person to be our regular ‘spiritual director’? And thereby develop more understanding: more social intelligence to rebuild our relationships.
By Gerard Conlan, OMI