Harassed People and Merciful God!

Sunday, June 14, 2026 

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ex 19:2-6a; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9: 36-10:8

The eleventh Sunday invites us to practice God’s mercy towards suffering humanity. 

The readings of the day highlight our invitation to be agents and practitioners of mercy. 

We can begin our reflection from the lead offered by the Gospel. We read that Jesus’ heart was ‘moved with pity’ for the people who looked ‘troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd.’ Some translations describe the crowd as people ‘who were harassed.’ I believe that ‘harassed people’ offers a lead to understanding the readings deeply. 

The first reading presents the memory of the ‘harassed people of God’ under Egyptian slavery, which did not just mean the physical suffering but also of the ruined morale of God’s people. Until God claimed them His own and brought them out of the land of Egypt, they remained a population without identity. God as their ‘good shepherd’ makes them His special inheritance, and they are called to partake of the privilege through their obedience to the commandments of God. The ‘harassed people’ are now invited to cherish divine love through their obedience to a loving God. The first reading demonstrates God’s love towards suffering humanity. 

In the second reading, Paul refers to the ‘harassed people because of sin.’ Paul exposes the truth that Jesus’ death was needed to liberate the people from the harassment that resulted from their sinfulness. Paul also deepens the understanding of Jesus’ death by stating that Jesus suffered not only for the sake of just people but also for the sake of the unjust and sinful. The act of reconciliation that Jesus achieved through supreme sacrifice reminds us of God’s merciful love towards suffering humanity. Indeed, on the cross, Jesus manifested the profundity of God’s love towards those harassed by sin. 

The Gospel is a brilliant manifestation of a ‘harassed people’ who were troubled and abandoned by the religious leaders of the time. People were made scapegoats to suffer abuse and exploitation at the hands of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Scribes, who made a mincemeat of the people through their rigid and legalistic interpretation and application of God’s law. Jesus’ compassion embraces those people, and he appoints apostles to carry good news to them – news that would be much different from what they have heard so far. The good news would mean curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and driving out demons – both literally and figuratively.

How was Jesus alone capable of the compassion that we find in the Gospel? Jesus turned his gaze towards the suffering humanity. Hence, we may define divine compassion as the ‘recognizing gaze of God.’ Just as God reverted His gaze towards the enslaved people, Jesus turned his gaze towards the sinful humanity and those who were made the scapegoats of his society. When do we become capable of imitating Jesus’ compassion? It is when we revert our gaze towards those whom we long overlooked or ignored. When our indifference ends, we become capacious enough to be moved with pity like Jesus. Hence, we learn from Jesus it is our conscientization that results in our liberative action towards suffering humanity. 

The readings of the day help us with powerful insights for reflection and action. 

1. Encountering God’s Mercy: Encountering God and experiencing His love becomes foundational to Christian spirituality. We cannot give the God we have not encountered or experienced. The recipients of God’s mercy must respond through a grateful and faithful life. 

2. Beneficiaries of God’s Love: Jesus’ death on the cross manifested the depth of God’s love for humanity. The beneficiaries of God’s love cannot be passive recipients. Instead, we need to act upon what we have been blessed with. God’s love finds expression in transformative actions.

3. Agents of God’s Mercy: Becoming agents of God’s mercy necessitates that we remain sensitive to human suffering. Our compassion for people must be translated into concrete actions. Announcing the Good News begins with giving hope and transforming the same into liberative praxis.

Let us pray that we may become practitioners of mercy, drawing inspiration from our Lord’s gesture and approach.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar