Ephesians 1:11-14 / Luke 12:1-7
If two is company and three is a crowd, then we may wonder what is a thousand. Or even thousands.
For those of us who don't like crowds (who likes crowds anyway?) a thousand or thousands would be too overwhelming.
We would feel like a drop in an ocean and being swirled about and pushed all over and being trampled upon.
In the gospel, we heard that the people were gathered in their thousands and they were treading on one another.
Obviously the stronger ones were overwhelming the weaker ones and they were being pushed far behind with no chance of seeing Jesus or hearing Him.
And here Jesus gives a teaching as He says: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Because no one is forgotten in God's sight, especially the weaker ones. The truth is that God cares especially for the least, the last, the lost and the lowly.
As the 1st reading puts it: we have heard the message of truth and the good news of our salvation and have believed it.
We don't have to scheme and push and shove others out of our way or even trample upon them in order to get what we want or to prove our worth.
We are worth more than hundreds of sparrows. Jesus even sacrificed His life on the cross to show us our worth.
Even if we feel that we are lost or the least or the last in the midst of thousands of others, let us not be afraid. God has not forgotten us. He never will.