DAILY HOMILIES #fear

“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:31-32)

They probably assumed that if Jesus were to cure all the demoniacs in their city, there might not be any livestock left. Has it ever occurred to you that like these people, there are times we kick Jesus out of our lives all because of our pursuit of (or perceived loss of ) some material riches?

In the midst of the panic, the disciples were surprised to see Jesus sleeping and the cushion, and when they woke Him, He not only spoke to the winds and the sea, He said to them: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” In today’s Gospel passage, we hear something very similar from the lips of Jesus, this time, He addressed the synagogue official whose daughter was feared dead: “Do not fear, only believe.”

Where Jesus is present, nothing spoils but when we are not on the same boat with Jesus, when we are walking in sin and disobeying His commands, then we are just on our own! The couple at Cana needed not be afraid because they were wise enough to invite Jesus and his mother to their wedding. (Cf. John 2:1-11).

As with the two disciples walking away from Jerusalem in utter disappointment, the eleven disciples who were filled with fear and worry, the cure for their problem was a sound Bible Study which Jesus freely provided.

We have no reason to fear because Jesus is here. He sees, He knows and He is more than able to defend us. Jesus can provide us with money and food with the twinkle of an eye, we don’t have to condescend to evil or compromise our Christian values because of our quest for the things of this world. Trust Jesus.

Fear is often caused by a lack of faith coupled with our ignorance of the truth. The bad news is that fear paralyses us leading us to very bad decisions. The good news however is that ninety-nine per cent of our fears would never happen

At times, God shows up as the fourth man in the fire but at other times, God leaves us to burn. We must have the type of faith to take whatever God so wills.

The truth is that we cannot avoid having to write exams and very difficult exams at that. God often allows us to go through the valley of the shadow of darkness to show us that even in thick darkness, even amid all the commotion and turbulence, He remains Lord and Ruler of the World. By walking on water, Jesus was saying: “no matter how tough your situation may be, it is not difficult for me because I am on top of it.”