WHOM ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

First Reading: Jer 20:10-13
Second Reading: Rom 5:12-15
Gospel: Mt 10:26-33

On this Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time the readings of the day are inviting us not to be afraid of people who call kill the body and cannot kill the soul. In the first reading we hear the confessions of Jeremiah whose ministry was in the most critical time of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah is called to do his prophetic ministry in the unfortunate times of Judah. The prophetic messages he has delivered are all denouncements and destruction of Judah. Thus, we can imagine the feedback he must have got from the people. He cries out saying that even his own friends have turned against him and looking for his fall (Jer 20:10). Prophets by nature are called to be courageous in delivering the message. Because often they are sent to deliver God’s message to the authority and powerful. To stand in front of the worldly power with the message of the ruin of that existing power is not that easy. Yet, Jeremiah does it successfully. Despite all the denouncements and criticisms, he stands bold with his message of the fall of Jerusalem. He is bold, courageous and fearless not on his own, but on the power of the message that he carries. The one who chose him and sent him for this mission has empowered this little boy Jeremiah with necessary graces and blessings. At the call of Jeremiah to prophetic ministry God tells him not to be afraid of confronting them – recipients of the prophecy (Jer 1:8). God promises His accompaniment and deliverance from the hands of the opponents (Jer 1:8). This promise sustains the prophet in his critical moments. Jeremiah cries out that all have turned against him and looking for his fall, yet he confesses that he has complete trust in God. For he says, “the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” (Jer 20:11). In these verses we see Jeremiah who was once afraid to speak anything in front of humans has now grown up matured to confront the opponents with the message of destruction. From where does he get this courage? Obviously from the one who sent him on a mission – the Lord.

In the gospel of today, Jesus instructs His disciples privately. In His instruction, the Lord encourages the disciples to be fearless. They are not to be afraid of communicating His message. Fear is good. We all have fear about something or the other. Fear helps us to pause and reflect. When the Lord says, ‘do not be afraid’ it is about truth. The world is filled with lies, likes and wants. Therefore, to confess the truth in the ocean of evil is rather a difficult task and threatening too. In this conflicted situation we are called to introspect and see what do we need to be afraid of? To fear God or men? We need to choose concerning whom to be afraid of. If we choose men, we have to compromise God’s commandments and loose the reward of faithful life. If we choose God, we face oppositions and persecutions but never loose the reward of being faithful – the eternal life. In this juncture, we have great example in the person of St. Thomas Morre, whose feast we have celebrated recently. He was a lay man whose faith in Catholicism was deep and sincere. As a lawyer, statesman, chancellor and moreover as secretary and personal advisor to the king, He chose to serve God first then the King. He strongly objected King Henry VIII in breaking away from Catholicism and founding his own Church in England thus making himself as its head. St. Thomas More refused to give his obedience and take oath of supremacy to the King. He was beheaded for this act. Interestingly, when he died his last words were, “I die the King’s good servant, and God’s first”. St. Thomas More chose to be afraid of God rather than human king. He chose to be afraid of the one who can kill both his body and soul, rather than the one who can kill only his body and not the soul. Yes, dear friends, oftentimes we are afraid of the consequences that we would face in the remaining days of our earthly life on the account of our obedience to the Lord. We scarcely worry about the consequences that would come for eternity after this human life. Therefore, we need to choose; which consequences do we need to worry about? Whom do we need to be fearful? Fear of God is good because wisdom begins from that (Pro 9:10). Let us choose God who is life in its fullness (Deut 30:19-20). Let us strongly believe like prophet Jeremiah that the Lord is on our side (Jer 20:11) because we have committed our cause to him (Jer 20:12). He will always favour the humble and the obedient (Prov 3:34; 29:23; Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5). May God the Almighty give us the grace to be prophets. The reward for this is; “everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.” (Mt 10:32). May we be acknowledged by Jesus in the presence of our heavenly Father. 


 

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