Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 5, 2026
Zechariah 9:9-10 | Romans 8:9, 11-13 | Matthew 11:25-30
As I’ve been learning and asking questions about Brazil, the mission country in which I arrived this February, one of the issues that has come up repeatedly is domestic violence. I was surprised on International Women’s Day to see a prominent memorial to recent victims of femicide, alongside some posters decrying violence against women.
Brazilians are increasingly talking about domestic and gender-based violence, creating support systems for abuse survivors, and improving how law enforcement handles these types of situations. Yet, I heard from a priest that it’s not uncommon for a witness of abuse to ease their conscience by bringing the matter to confession. It remains a crime from which we avert our eyes.
According to 2019 data from the country’s National Health Survey, approximately 2.5% and 8.9% of adult men and women in Brazil, respectively, have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. In its index of countries, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security suggests that in 2025, the percentage of women who experienced physical or sexual violence committed by an intimate partner in the 12 months prior to data collection was 6.5% in Brazil, compared to 5.7% in El Salvador, 6% in the United States and 18.3% in Bolivia.
In view of this, it hits me in the gut to read the opening lines of this week’s Scripture: “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!” A king, our king, is coming. Not a brute or a predator, but one who is just and meek. And he will banish tools of war and violence! It is the vision which all of us look to with hope, and it is the kingdom which we are building here and now through projects like AFYA in Action in Public Schools and restorative justice circles, as well as through every gesture of support by which one neighbor helps another. Domestic abuse comes with a sense of powerlessness and isolation, but that is not the will of God.
The psalm mixes lyrics of praise with acclamations of who God is: gracious and merciful, temperate and kind, good and compassionate toward all, faithful and holy in all he says and does. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. In these words, which are followed by St. Paul’s message to the Romans insisting that the Spirit of God dwells in us. We have a model of how to be Christ-like men and women, Christ-like spouses, Christ-like citizens: how to be Christians. If abuse rises from dynamics of power or passion, St. Paul reminds us that we are not debtors to these things. If we live according to the flesh, we reap suffering and death. But if we live in the Spirit and let go of old models of identity, we find an abundant harvest.
In the Gospel, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” I think of those who struggle with their patterns of abuse, with their history, with their identity. What if they could take up the yoke of Jesus? Is that something I can help with?
James Pawlowicz, from Bolingbrook, Illinois, joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners in 2025. Previously, he worked as an investigator and then manager for a nonprofit animal control organization. He is currently serving in João Pessoa, Brazil.
To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here.
Featured image: A man touches artwork made by artists in honor of Kathlen Romeu in a poor section of Rio de Janeiro June 14, 2021. The 24-year-old interior designer was pregnant when she was shot dead June 8 during a police operation, according to local media. The graffiti reads: “May your light guide the paths of our fight.” (CNS/Pilar Olivares, Reuters)
