Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Seized by fear...paralyzed by fear ... overcome with fear. These are just a few of the ways to describe the trauma that fear can have on us. At times our fears seem to gang up on us and we feel powerless over them. We fear the loss of a loved one. We fear our own mortality, the loss of a job or economic status, our sanity. We fear losing our youth, our friends, our identity, our independence or pretty much anything that is dear to us. One can say almost without hesitation, we are living in an age of fear, especially of the future and what it holds in store for us going forward.
Being fearful, worrying about things over which we have no control, saps us of the energy and vitality that rightfully belongs to today. Jesus is on record for telling us not to be afraid. Today’s reading is one of many of them. “Fear no one”, “And do not be afraid…” The Lord knows that we are like little children and that we need to be told repeatedly that our Dad will always be there when we need Him. He reassures us that our fate is in the hands of our heavenly Father who is more concerned about us than we can ever imagine. God, who cares for the sparrow and watches over the lilies of the fields, cares infinitely more about us. He even counts the hairs on our heads! Comforting thought for the fathers who celebrated Fathers’ Day last Sunday.
More than just instructing his listeners on a wholesome way of living, we see Jesus putting these words into practice all through his ministry. We see Jesus pass through “terrors on every side” and not give way to fear. We see Him challenged and persecuted by the religious leaders of his day and He does not weaken or become weak-kneed. When He is beaten and nailed to the Cross, He utters not a word of anger. How is Jesus able to do this? Because, in the words of Jeremiah, Jesus puts his trust in the Lord, “O Lord of host. for to you I have entrusted my cause”.
Jesus came into the world to teach us to fear nothing, not even those who can harm us physically. Through His life and activities, He has given us example so that we too can have the confidence to put our trust in our heavenly Father who loves us without limit and who seeks to rid us from every fear that seeks to seize our hearts and would have us live our lives under its power.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacs engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those thinking of coming into or leaving it.
OTHER RESOURCE
Recommended Reading: Thoughts in Solitude By Thomas Merton addresses the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most urging and popular works. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentieth century. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.
Recommended YouTube Video: Authentic Happiness and Human Flourishing Series - Week Two - In this four-week series, Dean Steve Thomason draws on resources from Martin Seligman, Berne Brown and Richard Rohr, using scientific work to explore elements of human experience that lead to authentic happiness, flourishing and deep meaning, and set all that against a backdrop of the gospel as good news, inviting all people into the fullness of life.
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