Gospel: John 6: 16-21
"It is I; do not be afraid." How often throughout the Gospels do we hear these words from angels and Jesus - do not fear. It is both an exhortation and a command that our spiritual lives are not to be build upon a reaction of fear but instead it is to be a response to love. How much of our lives are lived in fear: fears of disease, financial woes, natural elements, death, punishment. In every instance Jesus comes in our midst and says - do not be afraid.
Consider the disciples after the resurrection, cowering in fear in the upper room, afraid of the authorities, afraid of all sorts of things. Jesus appears to them - they are afraid for they think they are seeing a ghost. Perhaps they are also afraid of what Jesus might say and do to they who abandoned him, denied him, betrayed him. But he stands before them offering them peace, inviting them to love as he did with Peter.
The proclamation of peace and the invitation to love are the central kerygma of the Christian message. Sadly, however, both traditionalist and modernist employ the message of fear - fear of divine retribution, eternal damnation, prophetic omens, etc. But the message of Jesus remains the same: do not be afraid, peace be with you, do you love me. The authentic response of faith is to that invitation to love, to that acceptance of peace, to the exhortation to not be afraid.
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