Today’s gospel addresses a powerful human emotion, fear. It’s something we all have personal experience of in a myriad of different ways. We know how fear can undermine our plans and our lives.
We know it’s power to imprison and even destroy. I think that is always part of human nature. It’s especially true in the challenging and uncertain times we live in, when so much that we thought we could rely on suddenly seems uncertain and unsafe.
We are not the only people to have lived in such times. Jesus’ disciples also lived in fearful times as members a small nation occupied by a much more powerful one. They would have known just how precarious and uncertain life can be. In that situation Jesus had a very clear message for them:
“Do not be afraid.”
Knowing the precariousness of life, and the additional dangers that his disciples will face by following him he tells them that they should not be afraid. He encourages them to be brave and bold in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. He reminds them that they are precious in the sight of God, and deeply cherished and loved:
“Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.”
His words offer an antidote to fear. They remind us that whatever we face, however threatened we are we are held in the loving heart of God. This doesn’t mean we won’t suffer or be persecuted. It doesn’t mean we will be afraid, challenged or hurt. It does mean, as Julian of Norwich reminds us, that none of this will overcome us.
Where in your life do you most need to hear Jesus telling you “do not be afraid”?