12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
In our reading, Jeremiah was talking to God. Others were saying terrible things about him. He reminded himself that God is always with him to comfort and protect him. Jeremiah will continue to praise God.
In our Gospel, Jesus was talking to his disciples. He wants them to tell others everything he is telling them to. Have courage. If you stand up for me, I will protect you and God will know about you.
Feast Day: - St. William of Vercelli – June 25
William was born in Vercelli, Italy, in 1085. His parents died when he was just a baby so his relatives raised him. When he grew up, William became a hermit. He cured a blind man and became famous. He really wanted to be a hermit so he went to live on a high mountain alone so he could get closer to God.
Other men wanted to become closer to God, too so they looked for William, lived with him, and they built a monastery dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The mountain they lived on became known as the Mountain of the Virgin.
After a while, some of the monks complained that their way of life was too hard. Because William didn’t want an easier life, he left them at the monastery. William left, taking 5 followers and he started another monastery where they could live a strict life they felt called to.
One of William’s companions was John of Matera. They were both leaders and they soon realized it would be better if they went their separate ways and each started a separate monastery. They were great friends but they saw things differently. John went east and William went west. They both did well and both ended up as saints.
William died on June 25, 1142 at 57 years old.
St. William shows us that even good friends don’t always agree on everything. Even though St. William and St. John had different ideas they didn’t let this interfere with their friendship. We can ask St. William to help us to respect the ideas of our friends even when they are different from our own.