Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:30-31

Even all the hairs of your head are counted. The precision of the Father's attention to the particular person is the antidote to the particular fear. The Father does not manage you in the aggregate. He knows you in the specific - the exact count, the exact fall of the sparrow, the exact weight of what you are carrying.

But the Lord is with me like a mighty champion. Jeremiah prays this in the middle of the conspiracy forming around him. The champion is not the consolation after the fear passes. The champion is present in the fear, alongside the person who names the terror and then names the Lord in the same breath.

How much more did the grace of God overflow to the many. Paul's word is overflow - the grace given for the transgression does not stop at the level of the transgression. It goes beyond, more than compensates, exceeds the damage. The Father who counted your hairs also prepared an overflow of grace for exactly what the enemy has done to you.

You are worth more than many sparrows. Receive that today - not as a spiritual platitude but as an actual fact about your specific worth to the Father. Name one fear you are carrying this week and bring it to the Father who has counted your hairs. Let the precision of his knowing be the ground of the releasing.

Lord, you have counted my hairs. You know what I am worth. Let the terror on every side be met by the but-you-are-with-me. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.