Jeremiah 20:10-13 / Romans 5:12-15 / Matthew 10:26-33
Whenever we talk about fear, we are talking about something that affects all of us. Fear has no respect for status or personages.
And fear is also not something that can be rationalized with. Because it is a natural and a powerful human emotion.
The cause of fear can be anything from physical to psychological. Our response can also be anything from physical to psychological.
Some people have a fear for creeping and crawling insects, or snakes, or even cats and dogs.
Some have fears of the dark, or being alone, or of persons having certain looks and mannerisms.
Some also have fears of failures, or being laughed at, or being gossiped about, or fear of public speaking or of being on stage.
Whatever it is, the fear is a real emotion and it also makes us behave in a way that is not our usual and natural self.
In the gospel Jesus tells His disciples and He also tells this: Do not be afraid.
Jesus knows that we are afraid. But do we know what we are afraid of?
Of course we are afraid of many things. We are afraid of the future especially in the midst of these times. We are afraid of losing our jobs, afraid of financial difficulties, afraid of serious illnesses or being infected by the virus.
But when Jesus tells us not to be afraid, there is one person that He has in His mind, and that is, the evil one.
Because the evil one will stir up our fears and the evil one will also use his agents to stir up our fears.
When we begin to fear, our faith gets shaken, we begin to act in an unloving way and we lose the hope of anything good that can come out of a bad situation.
Just as in the 1st reading, the Lord God protected the prophet Jeremiah from his enemies, and Jeremiah was able to declare the justice of God and he even said: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men.
Jesus tells us not to be afraid of the evil one and those who do evil.
Jesus tells us not to fear the worst case scenario but to have faith in Him and to have hope for the best case scenario.
Let us ask the Lord Jesus to strengthen us with His love, so that we will be able to declare to others: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He will deliver us and save us.