Please read the passage before the homily.
The reading for today flows from a dinner to which Jesus had been invited and at which the host looked down on Jesus for not washing before eating. This meal is discussed in Luke 11:37-57. The host had broken protocol by pointing out Jesus’ behavior and criticizing him in front of the guests.
This began a series of accusations about how the Pharisees were paying attention to insignificant things and forgetting the interior dispositions. In the context of this meal, where bread made with yeast is served, Jesus warns his disciples to beware of the leaven, or yeast, of the Pharisees.
Then the situation seems to change. Jesus now begins to speak to the disciples about what they should expect on their journeys for Christ.
Not even the hypocrisy of other people can prevent the good news from being announced. Not even persecution can stop the good news. The disciples need not fear even the devil because God has the power to raise everyone from death back into newness of life. All this will happen because God can account for every hair on each person’s head. God will do this because each person is worth more than all the sparrows in the world.
Their work would be successful. What they now talk about in whispers, they will someday announce on rooftops. They will publish their deep thought about the Christ. The Word will prosper. Not even the powers of the demon will be able to stop them or the Word of God. God’s work is worth more than many sparrows just as the hairs the disciples’ head are God’s attention. The creator, who loves sparrows and each hair on our heads, considers us very valuable, worth more than all the sparrows in the world.
It is time to leave the hypocrisy of those who do not like us, and boldly proclaim what we have learned from the Lord.