"Be Not Afraid"--Jesus Is in the Boat with Us

Today's Entrance antiphon reads:  "The waves of death rose about me; the pains of the netherworld surrounded me" (Cf Ps 18 (17): 5,7].  How true!  The waves of death caused by the coronavirus rises around all of us throughout the entire world. "The pains of the netherworld [surround us]."   With the psalmist, we pray: "In anguish [we call] to the Lord, and from his holy temple [God hears our voices]".  As Pope Francis said to us yesterday from a live-streamed reflection at noon our time:  "Be not afraid. Jesus is in the boat with us."  And just as he calmed the fears of the disciples and stopped the storm that was threatening to kill them, so, too, will he calm our fears and assist us in stopping the spread of the virus that could kill us.  He has power over the coronavirus just as he had power over the storm that scared the disciples to death!

In the first reading of today's liturgy, Jeremiah 11: 18-20,  Jeremiah acknowledges that he knows "their plot because the Lord informed me; at that time you, O Lord, showed me their doings."  We know the plot of the coronavirus. We know what the coronavirus is doing to thousands of people around the world.  As those hatching plots against Jeremiah, and later against Jesus, so, too, it seems is the coronavirus determined "to destroy the tree in its vigor"  and to cut us "off from the land of the living."  However, the coronavirus will not have the last word any more than death had the last word in Jesus' life or the life of Jeremiah.  And just as the cases of those who were healed by Jesus revealed the glory of God, so, too, will the glory of God be revealed in today's world ravaged by this evil. Good comes from evil now as it did in Jesus' time when He was with us physically.  He is with us now in Spirit and in Life!

May our faith and trust be strengthened in this storm of life.  May we keep our eyes on Jesus and look to Him for the help that we need!

Jesus: Obedient unto Death

"Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name" (Phil 2: 8-9).

As a human being, Jesus went through death in His return to His Father in glory. You and I will also go through death on our return to our eternal home. Once we have passed through death, we will be at the gate that opens into heaven. Thinking of death may be scary for us. However, as St. Paul reminds us in today's second reading,  Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5 7-9, we "have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God...[W]e do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin, so let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help...." 

As we struggle with our weaknesses, and especially as we struggle with medical conditions that bring us, it seems, to death's door,  or reminds us of our mortality, let us share our fears with Jesus, as we would with a best friend here on earth!  Let us not be afraid to bare our soul to Jesus!  He knows what we are going through, as He Himself has been tested as we are!  He will empathize! He will understand!  He will be able to help us through the darkness into light!

"Do not be afraid; just have faith" (Cf Matthew 5: 21-43)

In today's first reading,  Hebrews 1: 1-4, St. Paul encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our leader and the one who perfects our faith.  Knowing that he was about to return to His Father, Jesus resolutely goes up to Jerusalem, where He is arrested, condemned and put to death by people under the influence of the Evil One.  St. Paul asks us to consider "how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that [we] may not grow weary and lose heart."

During His sojourn here on earth, Jesus Himself never lost heart or grew weary of loving tenderly, acting justly, and doing what was right (compare Micah 6:8)  for those who expressed their faith and trust in Him. We have examples of that in today's Gospel, Mark 5: 21-43, where a woman who suffered hemorrhages for twelve years believed that if she only touched the hem of His garments she would be healed and she was! Jairus, a synagogue official, whose twelve-year-old daughter lay dying,  approached Jesus asking that He come down to his house and "lay [His] hand on her that she may get well and live." People told the father that his daughter was dead and that he should stop bothering Jesus. The people also mocked Jesus when he entered the synagogue's house. He disregarded their message that she was dead and said to the official: "Do not be afraid; just have faith." Jesus, with some of his disciples, went into the house and  healed the dying child. "'Little girl, I say to you arise' [and she] rose immediately and walked around." 

The opposition, the mockery, the doubts that flew around did not cause Jesus to  "grow weary [or] lose heart."  He knew who he was and he recognized individuals who also knew that helping others and revealing God's compassion toward us was what Jesus was all about.  Nothing stopped Jesus, not even death itself!  He held nothing back on our behalf!

That was true 2000+ years ago and is true today, as well! When we express faith in God in seemingly hopeless situations, some people may mock our faith and tell us that all is lost and that we should give up. In those times, Jesus says to us: "Do not be afraid; just have faith."

Words of the psalmist (Ps. 49)

Today, I was deeply moved by Psalm 49, which priests and religious prayed in the Divine Office.  This psalm speaks to me of realities in the forefront of the news of today here in the U.S. of A.  The psalmist prays:

“Hear this! Listen, all people, everywhere,

both great and small alike, rich and poor together.

“My heart is full of insight; I will speak words of wisdom.

I will turn my attention to a proverb and unravel its meaning as I play the harp.

I am not afraid in times of danger, when I am surrounded by wicked enemies--

those who trust in their riches and boast of their great wealth.

People can never redeem themselves, cannot pay God the price for their ransom,

because the payment for their life is too great.

What they can pay will never be enough to keep them from destruction,

to let them live forever.

They see that even the wise dies, as well as the foolish and senseless.

They leave their riches to others.

Their tombs are their homes forever;

There they stay for all time—even though they once had lands of their own.

Don’t be afraid when people become rich,

when their wealth grows even greater.

They cannot take it with them when they die;

Their wealth will not go down to the grave with them.

Even if they are satisfied with this life

and are praised because they are successful (according to human standards),

They will join all their ancestors in death,

where the darkness lasts forever.

Riches cannot keep them from death; they will die like the beast of the field.”

How do the words of the psalmist touch you? What phrases stand out for you? Pay attention, as that is where the Spirit is speaking to your heart!

A Life Transformed by Christ

In today's Gospel, Luke 5: 1-11, Jesus, seeing Simon's boat abandoned, as the fishermen had left it to mend their nets, Jesus entered it to continue preaching to the crowd that had pressed around him on shore.  When he finished preaching, he asked Simon to go out into the deep and lower their nets for a catch.  A bit taken aback, he says to Jesus, "we have been fishing all night and have come up empty. But at  your command, we will try again, moving further into the deep."  They caught so many fish that two boats were needed to haul in the catch. Peter was astounded, overcome with fear and asked Jesus to leave him. "For I am a sinful man." Jesus responds: "Fear not, Peter. From now on you will be fishers of men and women." Jesus means, although at this point does not state it, you will, hence forward, be luring men and women into a closer relationship with me, teaching them the Good News of the Kingdom of God in their midst.Though still a fisherman and referred to as such, Simon, from that moment on, puts his eyes on the Lord, walks with Him, sits at His feet being taught about the Kingdom of God here on earth and the role he will assume as a leader of Jesus' disciples.

When we put Christ at the center of our lives and not our  "fishing business," we, too,  become new persons, as Simon, now known as Peter,  did.  Once our lives are turned to the Lord, we then allow the Spirit to lead us into the Light, into Truth, into repentance, into humility, into love that knows no bounds. Our only concern, in any state in life--marriage, religious life, single life or the priesthood-- is that we  serve the Lord above all, that we "put out into the deep water and lower...[our] nets." Though we may have caught nothing in our previous efforts, we say, with Peter, "at your command," Lord, I will do it. I will not give up."