IN A GRIP OF FEAR
IT seems as though the world is gripped in fear.
Turn on the evening news, and it can be unnerving: war in the Mid-east, strange viruses threatening large populations, imminent terrorism, school shootings, office shootings, bizarre crimes, and the list goes on. For Christians, the list grows even larger as courts and governments continue to eradicate the freedom of religious belief and even prosecute defenders of the faith. Then there is the growing “tolerance” movement which is tolerant of everyone except, of course, orthodox Christians.
And in our own parishes, one can feel the chill of mistrust as parishioners are wary of their priests, and priests wary of their parishioners. How often do we leave our parishes without saying a word to anyone? This musn’t be so!
TRUE SECURITY
It is tempting to want to build the fence higher, buy a security system, and mind one’s own business.
But this cannot be our attitude as Christians. Pope John Paul II is pleading with Christians to in fact be “the salt of the earth, and light of the world.” However, today’s Church resembles more the Church of the upper room: Christ’s followers huddled in fear, insecure, and waiting for the roof to fall in.
The very first words of his pontificate were “Be not afraid!” They were, I believe, prophetic words which are becoming more significant by the hour. He repeated them again at World Youth Day in Denver (Aug 15th, 1993) in a powerful exhortation:
“Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places like the first apostles, who preached Christ and the good news of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel (cf. Rom 1:16). It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern “metropolis.”…The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference.” (cf. Mt. 10:27).
This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. And yet, we Christians so often live in the fear of being identified as “one of his followers,” so much so, that we to are willing to deny Him by our silence, or worse, by letting ourselves be carried away by the world’s rationalizations and false values.
THE ROOT OF IT
Why are we so afraid?
The answer is simple: because we have not yet deeply encountered the love of God. When we have been filled with the love and knowledge of God, we are able to proclaim with the psalmist David, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” The apostle John writes,
Perfect love drives out fear… one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)
Love is the antidote to fear.
When we give ourselves completely to God, emptying our selves of our own will and selfishness, God fills us with Himself. Suddenly, we begin to see others, even our enemies, as Christ sees them: creatures made in God’s image who are acting out of woundedness, ignorance, and rebellion. But the one who has incarnated love is not afraid of such people, but moved with pity and compassion for them.
Truthfully, no one can love like Christ without the grace of Christ. How then can we love our neighbor as Christ does?
THE ROOM OF FEAR—AND POWER
Going back to the upper room 2000 years ago, we find the answer. The Apostles were gathered with Mary, praying, trembling, wondering what their fate would be. When all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit came and:
Thus transformed, they were changed from frightened men into courageous witnesses, ready to carry out the task entrusted to them by Christ. (Pope John Paul II, July 1, 1995, Slovakia).
It is the coming of the Holy Spirit, like a tongue of fire, that burns away our fear. It can happen in an instant, like at Pentecost, or more often, over time as we slowly give our hearts to God to be transformed. But it is the Holy Spirit who changes us. Not even death itself can rattle one whose heart has been set aflame by the living God!
And this is why: as almost an epilogue to his first words, “Be not afraid!“, the Pope has called us this year to pick up again the “chain” which links us to God (Rosarium Virginis-Mariae, n. 36), that is, the Rosary. Who better to bring about the Holy Spirit in our lives, than His spouse, Mary, the Mother of Jesus? Who can more effectively form Jesus in the womb of our hearts than the holy union of Mary and the Spirit? Who better to crush fear in our hearts than she who will crush Satan beneath her heel? (Gen 3:15). In fact, the Pope not only urges us to take up this prayer in great expectation, but to pray it without fear wherever we are:
“Don’t be ashamed to recite it alone, on the way to school, the uni-versity or work, on the street or in public transportation; recite it among yourselves, in groups, movements, and associations, and don’t hesitate to suggest praying it at home.” (11-March-2003 — Vatican Information Service)
These words, and the Denver sermon, are what I call “fightin’ words”. We are called to not only follow Jesus, but to boldly follow Jesus without fear. These are words I often write on the inside of my CD’s when autographing: Follow Jesus Without Fear (FJWF). We are to confront the world in a spirit of love and humility, not run from it.
But first, we must know Him who we follow, or as the Pope recently said, there needs to be:
…a personal relationship of the faithful with Christ. (March 27th, 2003, Vatican Information Service).
There must be this deep encounter with the love of God, a process of conversion, repentance, and following of the will of God. Otherwise, how can we give to others what we ourselves do not possess? It is a joyful, incredible, supernatural adventure. It involves suffering, sacrifice, and humiliation as we face the corruption and weakness within our hearts. But we reap joy, peace, healing, and blessings beyond words as we become more and more united to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… in a word, we become more like Love.
FORWARD WITHOUT FEAR
Brothers and sisters, the battle lines are being drawn! Jesus is calling us out of the darkness, out of the terrible fear which is paralyzing love and making the world a terribly cold and hopeless place. It is time we follow Jesus without fear, rejecting the empty and false values of this present generation; time that we defended life, the poor and defenseless and stood for what is just and true. It may indeed come at the cost of our lives, but more likely, the martyrdom of our ego, our “reputation” with others, and our comfort zone.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you… Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
Yet, there is one thing which we should fear says Paul, “woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16). Jesus said, “whoever denies me before others w ill be denied before the angels of God” (Luke 12:9). And we are kidding ourselves if we think we can remain unrepentant, persisting in serious sin: “because you are lukewarm… I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:16). The only thing we have to fear is denying Christ. I am not talking about the person who is trying to follow Jesus and witness, but sometimes fails, stumbles, and sins. Jesus came for sinners. Rather the one who should be fearful is the one who thinks simply warming a pew on Sunday can excuse himself from living like a pagan the rest of the week. Jesus can only save repentant sinners.
The Pope followed his opening remarks in that first speech with this: “Open wide the gates to Jesus Christ.” The gates of our hearts. For when love has free entrance, fear will take the back door.
“Christianity is not an opinion. … It is Christ! He is a Person, He is Living!… Only Jesus knows your hearts and your deepest desires. … Mankind has a decisive need for the witness of courageous and free young people who dare to go counter-current and proclaim strongly and enthusiastically their faith in God, Lord and Savior. … In this time threatened by violence, hatred and war, give witness that only He can give true peace to the hearts of men, to families and to the peoples of the earth.” —JOHN PAUL II, Message for 18th WYD on Palm-Sunday, 11-March-2003, Vatican Information Service
Follow Jesus Without Fear!
