What struck me when I read our Gospel today is the command that starts out Jesus’ address to his apostles: “Fear no one.” By some counts, we are told to not be afraid and not to fear more than 300 times in the Bible. As we hear these words of Jesus today to not be afraid, we might think of how when Mary was called to be the mother of Jesus, she was deeply disturbed at this message, uncertain of its true meaning. The angel encouraged her with the words: Mary, do not be afraid. Then, when Joseph heard about Mary being with child, he had planned to quietly divorce her, but was told in a dream: Joseph, do not be afraid. God called Mary and Joseph by name, asking them to take on challenging mission in their lives. God told them to not be afraid, that he would be with them and would bring them strength, support, and encouragement, that they would not be alone.
I remember that as a missionary, there were things that happened to me that made me afraid. Very afraid. I remember how I had spent two weeks in the military hospital in Quito, Ecuador trying to recover from pneumonia, malaria and Dengue fever, which I had one after another. My immune system was very out of whack. I was very very sick. The doctors did not know what was wrong with me. Not having a lot answers, and not feeling much better, I was released to go back to my mission site, which was located in a different part of the country and which took a day’s journey on a rickety bus, going through the Andes mountains to reach the coast of Ecuador. When I got to the city of Emeraldas, the capital of the province, I had to walk to a different bus station to take a bus into the heart of the jungle. Walking through the busy streets during market day, the next thing I knew, several young men surrounded me, and one grabbed me and held a knife to my throat. One thought went through my mind: I am probably going to die right now. My friends at the mission site told me that if I was robbed, to not put up a fight and just give them whatever they wanted. The robbers quickly grabbed my backpack, released me, and ran into the crowd. They even stole my sandals, my very nice sandals that someone had given to me as a gift. I was stunned and panicked, but more than anything, just thankful to be alive. I did not care about the things they took. I survived this ordeal - that was all that mattered.
We all know that fear can be a big part of life. I remember how there was a lot of fear in our society at the beginning of the pandemic, with a reality very different than what many of us had experienced. We may be afraid of a lot of things we see in society: social unrest, violence, intolerance, and crime. We hear a lot of language of attack and accusation in society, language of separation and exclusion. Fear can be roused up in us in many different ways, but Jesus is in solidarity with us, recognizing that there are indeed things in life that will cause his disciples fear. But there is appropriate fear and inappropriate fear, false fear and true fear. We need not ultimately fear those who try to harm us physically because our physical existence is held in the hands of God and is precious in his sight. As God values the life of sparrows that are sold two for a penny, think of how God values those disciples who place their trust and faith in him. We who stand firm in our faith and in the values of the Gospel, even to the point of death, can be be confident in where our ultimate fate lies, in the hands of God and in our eternal life with Christ.
We probably all feel like Jeremiah sometimes. Jeremiah reflects on the difficulty of his vocation of being God’s prophet. He is called to deliver a difficult message to God’s people, which brings a lot of hostility and burdens upon Jeremiah. Yet, he remains confident in the Lord, knowing he will be vindicated in the end.
In the face of fear, true faith does not ask us to flee from conflict or challenge. On the contrary, our faith gives us the power to live bravely and generously, to be resolute and daring. Our trust in God helps us overcome our fears in order to boldly defend what is right and just. As believers, we are not called to close ourselves off, to retreat into comfort or laziness. We are called to be committed.
Where is God is calling us to action, both as individuals and as a community? That is a good question. Perhaps what we need most right now is to ponder and discern that question to see where God is calling us. This past school year, our youth and children have gotten involved in ministry in the nursing home here in Clinton and in feeding the homeless in Jackson. I have been active in ministry in both the state prison in Pearl and the federal prison in Yazoo City, and at the VA hospital in Jackson. Many of you parishioners have helped us in those ministries in different ways. Sometimes we can talk a lot about works of mercy and service, but I am interested in putting those words into action.
The words of Sister Thea have inspired me in different ways, especially since our Diocese has been promoting her cause for canonization. Today, I would like to end our homily like we did on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, through the words of Sister Thea Bowman. This is a prayer she wrote herself:
O, Lord, help us to be attentive to your commands. Help us to walk in unity. Help us to celebrate who we are and whose we are. Help us to overcome selfishness, anger, and violence in our hearts, in our homes, in our Church, in our world. Help us to knock down, pull down, shout down the walls of racism, sexism, classism, materialism, and militarism that divide and separate us. Help us to live as your united people, proclaiming with one voice, our faith, our hope, our love, our joy. Amen.
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