May the Lord give you peace in the Holy Spirit.
It is on 25th June 2023. We celebrate the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We reflect on Jeremiah 20:10-13; the second is from Romans 5:12-15; and the Gospel is from Matthew 10:26-33.
As the list of fear is endless, the inner courage and determination to fight any type of fear within each one of us is boundless. Fearlessness is a gift from oneself when one is willing to deal with fear.
To be spiritually fruitful, one needs to have a certain amount of fear of the Lord. That type of reverential fear makes one strong within it to face any situations in life believing that God is with us.
In the first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah expressed his rejection from people, yet he held so firmly on God to deal with it head-on. Courage begins to emerge when we feel deeply loved by someone with all our defects and failures in our life. Intimidating and intercepting the fibre of fear is courage. Facing the giant within with the love of God, others and from own self.
Our reputation and dignity in front of us are time and time again assured by the very presence of courage to be loved and looked after. When God has decided to look after our needs, fears, anxiety, and stress, why fear? “The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.” (Ps.28:27).
The responsorial Psalm prays earnestly, “Lord, in your great love, answer me.” (Ps.69:14).
St. Paul reminds us that sin happens in the absence of the love of God. We become immoral, selfish, and sinful when do not fear God anymore. The act or the thought that displeases God is repeatedly enacted and ruminated over and over in our lives, eventually making us weak and fearful of our existence and proximity to God.
Instead of fearing God, we begin to fear people and all that is around us. With the grace of God as a gift, we can deal with anything and master it. We need to trust God unconditionally to face the fear within and around us. By aligning our inner selves with God, we can overcome the fear.
The Gospel reassured us that God cares for us and therefore we must learn to put all our hope in God to deal with our irrational fears. Jesus says, “Fear no one.” (Mt.10:26).
We do not need to fear anyone in the world who can destroy our physical existence, but we must fear the one who could put body and soul in hell. “So do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt. 10:31). Jesus repeats three times in today’s gospel alone not to be afraid. May God’s love in us be the courage to face it all. Have a good day.