Homily for the Week of Sunday, June 22, 2008

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008

At 1:33 pm on December 7. 1941 the secretary of the Navy telephoned the White house and informed President Roosevelt of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Upon hearing the reports, Eleanor Roosevelt hurried to her husband’s side. She recorded years later that, while the cabinet officers and aides were running about in a state of panic, the president maintained an almost supernatural calm. He demonstrated not the slightest fear, although he thought it probable that the United States mainland could be attacked. He said to those who were with him: We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Psychologists tell us that at least 8 percent of us have some kind of phobia. That means that many of us suffer from some kind of unreasonable fear of a certain situation, object, or experience. We are afraid.

Our first reading tells us that poor Jeremiah has some very real fears. He was a very young man when God asked him to replace the king who was killed in a war that tried to prevent the Egyptians from taking over his country. He was afraid that people might try to kill him. Because he was so young he did not have the experience to deal with these kings. Because he loved God he kept telling his people to trust in God, and God would take care of them. More than once Jeremiah ended up in jail. At one point a mob threw him down a well and left him to die. He complains to God who had put him in a position of having to preach an unpopular and dangerous message. But after a while he forgets his fear because he knows that God is with him inspite of everything.

Likewise, in our Gospel today, we are told that Jesus has little tolerance for fear. When sending out the Twelve apostles Jesus knew that they would encounter opposition. He told them clearly, ''Fear no one.'' He warns them to not be afraid. They are told not to be afraid of bad weather while in a boat. Three times in the reading today Jesus says: DO NOT BE AFRAID.

Some of our fears are related to religion or the practice of our religion. We may be afraid to profess our faith in public. We grow pale when someone asks us to lead a prayer before a dinner or at a meeting, or before a ball game, or even lead the Rosary in public. We may be afraid to ask someone not to use bad language. We are often afraid to tell our friends that their foolish or bad behavior will get them into trouble. We may be afraid to defend all human life. We are afraid to take the keys from friends who drink too much. Young persons often worry about friendships, money, their looks which worries often lead to more serious emotional problems.

Fear is perhaps the most controlling emotion that we experience. If each of you think back over your life of the past week, I am sure that you can come up with situations in which you acted out of fear. Maybe you were afraid to hurt someone. Maybe you were afraid of sickness, or loneliness or being alone. You may have been afraid that someone you loved would leave you; maybe you felt God did not care for you; or maybe you were afraid that you were not good enough, afraid that you would lose your job, or not pass a test. When we have done something we should not have done, we are afraid that someone will find out, or if they do, we will not be forgiven. We so often allow fear to control us.

Fear is not a new emotion or feeling. Just as most of us feel it today, we can be certain that Jesus felt it, and he prepared his disciples to face it and deal with it. So how does a Catholic overcome fear? Jesus tries to convince us of our worth in the eyes of God. He tells us that God accepts us where we are because he loves us.

Refusing to be afraid can be a superhuman job. Faith in God can help us. No detail of human life is insignificant to God. Jesus uses examples of sparrow and hair. Not even a single sparrow falls to the ground apart from God’s will. Even the hairs of our head are counted by God. Imagine the billion of objects in our world. God knows them, and cares about them. And if God cares for these then what about each of us -- human beings made in his image and likeness? God will never forget us, or take love away from us. Jeremiah expressed complete confidence in God when he felt terror on every side. Many of our saints who died rather then to give up their religion feared no one because of their faith in God.

No wonder that, knowing this love, Christ can say to his followers, "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid of those who can hurt you materially but cannot hurt your soul.

Each of us is a child of God, with God as Our Father. We come together to sustain each other in faith. We were born to make known to ourselves and others the God that is within us. Inspite of this we can have moments of doubt -- so we must live with a certain amount of fear as human beings. Yes, there may be bad times in our life, but we do have the promise that Jesus is by our side.

Be not afraid. We are worth more than we could ever know. Seek out your fears, bring them to God, who will take them away.