June 14th 2026. Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
GOSPEL: John 6:51-58
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Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel
GOSPEL: Matthew 9,36 – 10,8
When Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’.
He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows:
‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
1. Authentic faith includes the acknowledgement of our fragility, our insufficiency. The delirium of autonomy always leads to shame, to the revelation that we are inadequate and in need of God.
On this eleventh Sunday of ordinary time, the first reading from Deuteronomy recounts the words of the Lord to Moses from Sinai. The people of Israel, he says, are to become a kingdom of priests, of intercessors, a people who prays for the world to God and makes God present to the world. What does it mean to be the Lord’s people, to be his property? This is the question raised by our baptism, which is an echo renewed in Christ of the covenant made by God with Israel. In Sunday’s Gospel, we read of the compassionate gaze of Jesus upon the people who are like sheep without a shepherd. It is important to note that in those times, a flock without a shepherd could not survive. The sheep needs to live in a flock and to be shown the places to obtain water and food. We too have need of God in a similar way, but this is opposed by an anthropology that has come to dominate human affairs since the 1800s. At this time there arose the delirium of a way of looking upon humanity as being autonomous, of being able to survive by himself, of not needing God. This, ironically, has led in turn led to a widely diffused feeling of insecurity, a sense that we are fragile, an instinct that we are insufficient after all. To counter this, we harbour the delusion of the victorious human being who is able to overcome all adversaries. In sport we see this with the victor being glorified and everyone else counting for nothing. Consequently, we have lost the understanding of who we are and what the faith is. Authentic faith includes the honest realisation of our own fragility. In the third chapter of Genesis, humanity asserts its autonomy in opposition to God the Father and then it discovers itself to be naked, fragile and ashamed of itself. This is always the consequence of those who proclaim themselves autonomous – they find themselves naked and incapable of maintaining this pretext of independence.
2. We carry in ourselves the memory of our dignity, of our being chosen by God, of our true greatness, but we decides instead to become “great” following the path of the serpent, until we arrives at the point of shame, a disordered relationship with our own body, and with other people
When we look at the Twelve that Christ called, we see what a fragile bunch they were. Peter is a flawed man who makes many mistakes. James and John, sons of Zebedee, are embarrassed before the others when their mother seeks for them the most advanced careers in the Kingdom. Thomas has his doubts and Judas Iscariot even ends up betraying his master. In summary, the “casting” of Jesus wasn’t done so well. He did not choose the best but rather men who had many limits. Yet these are the ones who are sent to console, heal and liberate from impure spirits. The impure spirit was a mixture of the good and the bad, taking a little of that which comes from God and combining it with evil. This is the story of humanity who carries in himself the memory of his dignity, of his being chosen by God, of his true greatness, but who decides instead to become “great” following the path of the serpent, until he arrives at the point of his shame, a disordered relationship with his own body, and with other people, living always in a state of rivalry with others, seeking constantly to exalt himself in an effort to recreate the memory of his true beauty and true goodness.
3. What we are called to is love, not to perfection according to the idolatrous models of this world.
Jesus is seeking workers for his harvest. He is not seeking “victors” but people who have the same compassion that he has. If we consider the gaze of Jesus upon the crowds, his way of looking at them, it is sobering to think of the obsession in our times with the external aspect of ourselves as if it were everything. Jesus looks deeper than our appearance, deeper than our make-up, deeper than our existential deodorants, deeper than our disguises in which we try to present ourselves as perfect people, even in church. We try to present ourselves as people without weaknesses, but then the weaknesses pursue us and reveal themselves when we least expect it. We must accept that we are vulnerable and weak. What we are called to is love, not to perfection according to the idolatrous models of this world. The human being reaches perfection when he has love and mercy in his heart, not when he is capable of defeating every enemy. We must rid our hearts of these delusions so that we can embrace the love that God shows us. Our lives are a training in love, not a training for victory. This Sunday, may we all accept that we are sheep in need of a shepherd, that we desperately need to be cared for by him, and let us leave behind us the delirium of autonomy of the 1900s. Just as the people of Israel were unable by themselves to confront any of their challenges, so too may we enter into the covenant with the Lord, acknowledging our absolute need of him, refraining from believing ourselves to be something that we are not. All of our strength resides in our covenant with God, not in anything of ourselves that makes us feel independent, but in the gift of our heavenly Father! Let us live as children of the Father, as allies with him in the covenant, as sheep who are cared for by a Good Shepherd, who are fed, washed and healed by One who loves them.
