Today’s first reading,
Heb 2: 14-18, opens with the following statement:
Since the
children share in blood and Flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that
through death he
might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is,the Devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery
all their life.
We may think of the
phrase “fear of death” to mean only our physical dying. However, it means far more than that. It
refers to fear of dying to selfishness and rising to the new life of generosity
in giving one’s 100%, fear of dying to pride and rising to new life through humility,
the fear of dying to anger and rising to new life through peaceful negotiation
and compromises, the fear of dying to deceitfulness and rising to new life
through honesty, the fear of dying to fear itself and rising through acts of
courage and so on.
When I am afraid of
something, my energy goes into protecting that of which I am afraid. I become a
slave to the behavior I engage in to protect myself: a slave to hiding the
truth, a slave to selfish behaviors, a slave to acts motivated by pride and so
on. Jesus came to set us free!
From what do I need to be
set free today?
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