12 Sunday in Ordinary Time Mt 10,26-33

Many, especially the elderly, claim that today’s people do not trust their problems as quickly as they did in the past. At that time, people, especially in smaller communities, were “family” and knew almost everything about one another. However, this statement is not entirely true, because a random, brief conversation with a stranger is enough to know what values he professes, what he claims, and what his views are. They view religion as a private matter, so it should not be discussed to avoid offending anyone, especially unbelievers. Today’s gospel, however, makes it clear that public confession of Christ is a prerequisite for eternal life. It is as binding as loving one’s neighbor and showing him mercy. He who is ashamed of Christ must reckon with the fact that he will also be ashamed of the Father in heaven.

But how do we compare these strict words of confession with other statements of Jesus in which religion refers to the chamber of the heart and fights against the Pharisees who used religion for their admiration? But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father will reward you, for he also sees what is done in secret. And when we add to these words this day, “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father, which is in heaven.” But whosoever shall deny me before men, even I will deny before my Father, which is in heaven; we ask ourselves how we understand it.

Religion has two sides. The first is internal—private, to which Jesus’ words of religious privacy apply. After all, when a person decides to meet God and speak to him in prayer, it must take place in the depths of his heart, which, of course, he hates to make public. The second is external—public, in which we assume that God is the master of the world, humanity, states, nations… Therefore, the relationship with him can not only be a private matter, it can not be handled only in the chamber of the heart, pushed only into churches, or hung in an always closed bedroom. God also has a firm place in public life; he should also be publicly worshiped and respected. After all, even Christ was not ashamed to sacrifice his life in front of the whole public, and therefore we must care more about him than about people’s opinions. There are situations in life when we must say straightforwardly and clearly that we are believers and stand by our faith.

However, there are situations where our religious feeling prevents us from showing our convictions, and we will say to ourselves, “What is it for who I am, what religion I believe in, whether I go to church and approach the sacraments…” I will only talk about it with people who understand it and want to. Didn’t Christ himself tell us not to throw pearls to pigs? Surely we have all come to such conclusions before, having found it better to remain silent than to argue about religion or act as sectarians who fanatically and sometimes violently impose our views.

Today is different from the time of Christ or the Christian Middle Ages. Therefore, we should also understand the words of the Lord in the spirit of our present. Today, we do not need to confess Jesus to rulers and kings as he did 2,000 years ago. But we must also not make religion a protest, a demonstration, an opposition… Today’s faith must express a lived, sincere Christianity. The world does not expect great words from us, but a different life, one entirely different from the lives of those without God. Through our behavior, modesty, dedication, and willingness to help everyone, people must see that we are in this world but do not belong to it. Because those serving this world do not hide what they consider ideal, our way of life must make clear to everyone what our interests and desires are.

Leslie Strobel became a Christian in 1979. An example from her life also impacted her husband, who was an unbeliever. He set out on a journey to find God and finally found him. In his book The Case for Christ, he talks about two years of intense searching that led him to Christ. This journalist, who has received several journalism awards, is now largely dedicated to answering questions from unbelievers and often cynical readers of the newspapers for which he works. The change he went through also affected their five-year-old daughter, who once said, “Mom, I would like God to do for me what He did for my father.” Leslie Strobel’s faith affected her entire family. This is precisely what each of us should do in our mission. The life of our faith is to affect the environment in which we live.

Lord, give us the strength to profess our faith without fear, not to be ashamed of you.