Walking with Jesus: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time A

For Sunday, June 14, 2026

Exodus 19:2-6, Romans 5:6-11, Matthew 9:36-10:8


The great solidifying event of the Old Testament is the call of the reluctant Moses to save the Israelites and their continuance as God’s chosen people. The Exodus event is captivating.

The Israelites go to Egypt to save their livestock from the plagues and weather that have devastated their land in the Middle East. Seeing their numbers grow so large, the King of Egypt says, “See! the Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.” [Exodus 1:9-10] Egypt oppresses the Israelites, forcing them to build the Pharaoh’s garrison cities. Then the midwives are ordered to kill any Israelite male born. If the child is a girl, it may live, but by decree the males are to be killed — drowned — to control their growth.

A man from the house of Levi marries a Levite woman; she conceives and Moses is born. They hide him for three months and place him in the Nile. The Levite’s sister witnesses this act. Soon, Pharoah’s daughter finds Moses and recognizes that he is an Israelite. The sister suggests that an Israelite woman should wean Moses and, when he’s old enough, bring him to be raised in the Royal Family. This happens. Later, Moses witnesses the murder of a Hebrew by an Egyptian. He runs away, fearing retribution by Pharoah. He has an encounter with God at the Burning Bush and sees that the fire does not consume the bush. God asks Moses to lead the Israelites to freedom. To convince the stubborn Pharoah to release the Israelites so they may worship their God, ten plagues are needed. This story makes for a great drama — we all know Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, with Charlton Heston as Moses, Yul Brynner as Rameses II (Pharoah), and a star-studded cast. It was billed as the epic biblical adventure film and “The Greatest Event in Motion Picture History.”

The Israelites escape Egypt and witness God’s powerful intercession, slaughtering the Egyption army and saving Israel from mass murder. Today, in Exodus, they arrive at Mt. Sinai where God calls Moses up the mountain to hear His instructions on leading His people. Now God’s relationship to His people is highly complex yet dynamic and frequently strained. The covenant is expressed point-blank — “I will be your God, you will be my people” — this is very clear legally and spiritually, but due to the consistent unfaithfulness of the people it the relationship is horribly strained at times. Not revealing His entire character all at once, God instead employs progressive revelations showing different aspects of His qualities: absolute holiness, sovereignty, and full redemption as the people mature spiritually. This takes centuries: “Therefore if you hearken to My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My special possession, dearer to Me than all other people …” [Exodus 5:5] God’s offer is a special one the Jews cannot refuse. But they, like all of us, are less than zealous in living up to their side of the covenant. It’s a question we still ask today: Who is our God? What is God like? Does He continually get mad at us? But seldom do we ask: Are we living up to the covenant of being people of love, or are we focusing solely on ourselves and what’s best for us? ... Satan’s continual temptations.

Today we read Paul’s letter to the Romans — a letter so important that we will be reading it for the next 13 Sundays. Paul tells us the tremendous extent and final proof of God’s love: Christ died for the ungodly [verse 6]. In our lives we find people who touch us and show us the depth of what it means to be good and honorable — and some show us how living love enables us to be true to ourselves [verse 7] — but while we were all sinners, Jesus died for us sinners … enemies of God, we could we say. No one’s love can go further than that, to give His life for us and all.

And how does God look at us? We see in the Gospel as Jesus shows us God’s concern: “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd.” [Matthew 9:36] God really loves you, me, everyone that much ... yes, He does ... and He loves us so much that He needs us to show the love we’ve received from Him so others can see that they too are loved. And Jesus sent out the 12 disciples and gave them authority over all sorts of diseases, yet instructed them not to go to Samaritans or pagans, only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel — the Jews — and say, “the Kingdom of God is at hand … without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” [Matthew 10:8] Look how you and I have been blessed continually ... so we too are to give. We have witnessed a Jesus who is with the people, meeting them, listening to the stories of their struggles ... and with great empathy and compassion empowers them to know God’s love, embracing and sharing it. How? By our kindness, help and care, showing how God’s love has touched us and that He needs us to share — not just on our days off, but every day. Love is needed always.

So I reflect on:

• Jesus shows His love for humanity by giving His life for us, in spite of knowing there will be many who will refuse the offer of His love. How do I imitate Jesus? Am I dying to myself and giving something important for them? Am I willing to do that?
• Am I a laborer working to bring Jesus’ harvest to others? What do I ask from God?

Sacred Space 2026 states:

“Having appointed the twelve, You sent them out with very special instructions. They were to go to the lost sheep, the less privileged ones, those who were unlikely to encounter You unless some of Your group made a special effort to encourage and instruct them. Is that the job You have asked me to do? If so, help me to do it with an open heart and an observant eye.”