Dear Friends. Today’s Gospel selection is part of a larger passage of Jesus’ teaching on mission. Jesus is telling us today to be fearless in proclaiming the Good News of God’s love.In fact, in five short verses, Jesus tell us “Be not afraid” three times. This is one of the most common refrains in the Bible. It appears over three hundred times. It always is in a context of telling us we are in the presence of a loving and providential God.
There is good reason why it is repeated so often. Fear is an integral part of our human condition. Part of the wisdom journey with Jesus is to discern the conditions for real fear from the fear based on ignorance and illusion.
The fundamental truth of today’s Gospel is we have great value in the presence of the Father. We are loved without conditions and without limits. Whether it is the hairs on our head or the sparrows in the field, nothing compares to the Father’s compassionate concern for us. This is the realistic response to fear.
When we are called to walk in this tender and merciful path of the Father, we are not guaranteed a shallow peace of comfortable compromise with the world. An honest commitment to Jesus’ call will bring conflict and rejection. True fear should drive us away from a life and message that is too close to the ways and values of the consumer society. We are challenged to stand against the neglect of the poor and support for a way of life that distorts the Gospel values. When we are faithful to Jesus we have reason to fear. We will be rejected. We will be drawn away from our comfortable compromise that neglects the environment and celebrates the latest and the best in everything.
In his beautiful Exhortation, the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis said he wants a poor Church for the poor. The implications for such a mandate for us are radical. We need to turn to the beauty and goodness of the message of the Good News as the foundation our security. We are called to turn away from a consumer mentality, a mind-set filled with false values and illusions. In fact, this openness will draw us into a relentless attack on our possessions as a source of our security. We will have to slowly but steadily place our confidence in a God who cannot love us more even to the point of keeping count of the hairs on our head. The choice is clear. We can trust in this God of love or we can place our confidence in the pursuit of more and better things. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus to guide us from fear into truth, freedom and love.
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God
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