DO NOT BE AFRAID

HOMILY FOR THE 12^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Rev. Fr. Peter Onyekachi Ezekoka

Jeremiah 20:10-13        Romans 5:12-15        Matthew 10:26-33

Let’s start with a story. ‘Once Upon A Time’ a man was convicted of a crime, a serious offence, and was hauled up in court before a judge to be sentenced. Instead of sentencing him in the usual way, the judge told him to choose between two possible punishments. He should choose either to be hanged or to take whatever lay behind a massively scary iron door. The criminal made a snap decision to go for the rope. As the noose was being slipped over his neck, he turned to the judge and asked: ‘By the way, out of curiosity, what IS behind that door?’ The judge looked down his nose at him: “Y’know, it’s odd, whenever convicts are offered the choice, nearly everyone picks the hangman’s noose”. “Tell me,” urged the man, “time is short for me. What’s behind that massively scary iron door? I mean, I won’t be able to tell anyone if you tell me!” he said, pointing to the noose. The judge fixed him with a steely gaze: “Freedom!” he exclaimed. “It is freedom. Most people who come before me are so afraid of the unknown that they choose the rope instead of freedom.” From this story, we may deduce that the deliberate conquering of our fears can liberate us, can bring us freedom.

This story sets the scene for Christ’s message regarding the phenomenon of fear. Not once, not twice, but three times in the Gospel passage (vv. 26, 28 and 31), Jesus tells us not to be afraid, encouraging us not to give in to despair whenever we Christians face challenges or persecution.

The first time He says it, He explains that our projected fears are groundless because Truth will ultimately triumph: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.’ So, when we are frozen with fear at the very thought of being persecuted for righteousness, what we are engaging in is unholy fear. This unholy fear diminishes our willingness to witness to Christ. ‘What I say to you in the dark, say it in the light’, Christ said. Our primary Christian duty is to witness to the risen Lord; we are not to keep quiet out of fear of turning people against us or of persecution. If we listen to the gospel - “the Good News” of “the God-News” - with reverence, and are gifted thereby with the confidence to speak out about it, it is possible to subdue and overcome unholy fear.

The second time He says it, He gives us a teaching about dealing with the prospect of persecution and physical death: do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul... Presidents and tyrants wield earthly power, but none of them has the power to prevent God from loving us and protecting us: ‘Who can separate us from the love of God?’ (Rom 8:35). We might well be afraid of certain people because of what they can do to hurt us and those we love. Satan is very active in the world. Christ in His humanity endured terrible situations. His Agony in the Garden was so great that His sweat was like drops of blood (Lk 22:44), so He understands how we are tempted to lose our peace when we are pushed to the edge. Fear disorientates us, fear causes us to lose our sense of purpose, fear diminishes our sense of commitment to Him, and has the potential to put our faith at risk. The remedy for fear is to set it aside in favour of  the ‘fear of God’. Yes, God can be angry, and that certainly is to be feared! But when we say that only God is to be ‘feared’, what we mean is that He alone is to be held in awe, to be revered and worshipped, because He is so overwhelmingly beyond the appreciation of the human mind. We live out the gift of the Holy Spirit when we come to see God in everything around us and in everything that we do. Now this is holy fear: it is the constant desire to submit ourselves to the love of our benevolent God.

The third time He says it, He expounds on the love of God for Creation and for us as individuals down to the last detail: so, there is no need to be afraid. You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows. God cares for us more because we are made in His image: ‘cast all your anxieties before him, for he cares for you’  (1Pet 5:7). ‘Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace, you will not be humiliated’ (Isaiah 54:4). Seen from a medical  point of view, fear sets up a chain reaction in the brain, starting with a stressful stimulus and ending with the release of chemicals that causes a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, sometimes resulting in an alteration of metabolic and organ functions or even a cardiac infarction (heart attack). Fear is bad for us. Who rejoices in it? Satan. That says it all, doesn’t it?

Now, let’s go back to our opening story where the convict has to make a choice. Out of fear of what lay beyond the massively scary iron door, the offender chose the rope. Out of fear, he denied himself the opportunity to open the door to freedom. He was too afraid to take the risk, for better, for worse. We know that the number of missed opportunities in our daily lives keeps on rising because we fail to take the bull by the horns, or rather, to take that leap of faith. It is also true that, out of fear, we tend to choose the broad, liberal, accommodating road through life, rather than the narrow, uncomfortable path of truth (Mt 7:13-14). It’s tough, dangerous and costly to go against the flow of traffic to perdition. The Christian Faith is (or used to be) known as ‘The Way’. The one and only way to true freedom is that ‘Way’ enshrouded in great mystery. When we man up, determine to follow that mysterious ‘Way’, and actually walk that narrow path, what we gain is true and authentic freedom in Christ to get to our destination of heaven. Fear strangles our motivation and our action, but once fear is conquered, victory is ours.

And finally… According to a popular motivational talk on fear, ‘fear’ can have two meanings: (1) ‘Forget Everything And Run’ and (2) ‘Face Everything And Rise’. The prophet Jeremiah faced down everything that was thrown at him by his persecutors, and he survived. According to the First Reading, Jeremiah proclaimed that ‘the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed’. He was correct! In the Second Reading, St. Paul assures us that the gifts of divine grace and of being God’s children are given to us through the one God-Man, Jesus Christ. We ourselves can have the confidence to face everything and anything and come through when we personally accept that Jesus is with us and has overcome death. ‘Even though we walk in the darkest valley, we will fear no evil’ (Ps 23: 4) ‘for the Lord is with us’. At the end of our physical existence, life is changed, not ended (Phil 3:21). Life is not annihilated. Evil does not overcome us. We do not need to be afraid. We should not be afraid. May the Lord continually help us to conquer every fear that assails us, for fear is a liar! Amen. God bless you.