268. Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Meditations no. 581 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

If we are close to Jesus, like the Apostles, we must not admit any fear.

DURING the three years that they lived so close to Jesus, the disciples took refuge in the assurance that their Master manifested at all times, so that they were able to face without fear the lack of means, those who sought the perdition of the Lord, and even evil spirits. Jesus was at their side and they could fear nothing.

But the Lord knew well that the comforting vision of his Most Holy Humanity was going to be taken away from them and that, until the arrival of the Holy Spirit, they needed to be confirmed in their wavering faith, because they would be prey to all kinds of fears. And that, even after Pentecost, in the face of difficulties that seem to have no solution, the temptation of fear or discouragement would appear in their lives. Therefore he warns them: do not be afraid of men, because there is nothing hidden that will not be discovered, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the dark, say in full daylight; and what you heard in your ear, proclaim it from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; fear first of all those who can cause soul and body to lose soul and body in hell.

Four times Jesus warns them against fear at the end of the long discourse on the apostolate that is collected in chapter 10 of St. Matthew, of which we read a part today in the Gospel of the Mass. The Lord wants us not to be afraid of anything or anyone. Instead, a holy fear of God that leads us to hate everything that offends Him, that can separate us from Him. In everything else, fear should never enter the heart of a child of God.

Fear is the passion aroused by the consideration of a danger, real or imaginary, that may befall us. We Christians know that the only evil is sin. Apart from this, everything that can happen to us fits within the loving Providence of our Father God. It is a consoling truth, the foundation of our audacity. Jesus Christ uses a comparison that everyone can understand. Are not a couple of sparrows sold for an ace? Well, not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s permission. As for you, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows.

If even the little birds that have a very small value are the object of divine attention, how much more so those of us who have been created in the image and likeness of God himself and redeemed by Jesus Christ? Our immortal soul is destined for eternal glory. For us, God became incarnate and died on the Cross. We are worth all the Blood of Christ: an infinite price. God’s Providence with us reaches even the smallest thing, even what may seem anecdotal, as the Lord suggests with a graphic example: even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Let us thank God for his providence over us. Especially all those graces and gifts that he has granted us without us noticing. We thank him for everything, etiam pro ignotis, even for the good things of which we are not aware, because he never leaves us alone. A child of God - you - must not be afraid to live in the environment - professional, social … - that is his own: he is never alone!

“God our Lord, who is always with you, grants you the means to be faithful to Him and to lead others to Him.

Various kinds of fear.

IF WE were not entirely Christ’s, if we were not settled in divine filiation, the temptation of fear would frequently present itself in our lives. Sometimes, as a manifestation that we consider evil things that should be indifferent to us: what people will say, the possibility of looking bad, of making mistakes, or of having our actions misinterpreted; the fear of ridicule, of appearing unintelligent; fear, in short, that we will not be considered as we should, in our opinion.

At other times, fear refers to something that should instead be the object of our love or of holy pride: the presence of the Cross in our lives - physical or moral pain - or the fear of being pointed out as disciples of Christ. None of this should surprise us, because in this forge of pain that accompanies the lives of all those who love, the Lord teaches us that those who tread without fear - even if it costs - where the Master treads, find joy.

There is a type of fear that must be absolutely rejected, because it is an ally of the enemy: fear of directors. To be afraid of something or someone, but especially of the one who directs our soul, is unbecoming of a child of God.

We might also experience the paralyzing fear, fruit of spiritual mediocrity, of knowing that God wants us to be saints, and we are not. It is the fear of the one who buried his talent when he knew his master was going to hold him accountable. He killed the time and opportunity that God gave him.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus Christ warns us against another kind of fear, which is perhaps the most absurd: human respect in the apostolate, not deciding to transmit the wonder of the Christian life that God has

deposited in our hearts. There is nothing hidden that will not be discovered, nor secret that will not be known. To be silent when it comes to talking about God, defending the Church or the doctrine of Christ is ridiculous, as well as being an offense to the Lord, because in the end everything is known: invariably in the final judgment and almost always already on this earth, giving rise to bad example. There is a very considerable number of Christians who would be apostles … if they were not afraid.

They are the same ones who then complain, because the Lord, they say! - abandons them: what do they do with God?

Jesus Christ announces a great reward for the bold who confess Him before men, and a severe punishment for those who allow themselves to be dominated by human respect. Whoever confesses Me before men, him also I will confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, He also will I deny before My Father who is in heaven.

“We must constantly sow the knowledge of God and reveal with the light of preaching the profound secret of the doctrine of the Gospel, without fear of those who have power only over bodies, but can do nothing over the spirit; that is why it is said: ‘Do not fear those who kill the body and cannot kill the soul.’”

Fear is the occasion of sins of omission. Our Father warns us: Fear?: it is typical of those who know that they are doing wrong. You, never. To the worldly and to those who allow themselves to be dominated by little initiative, the harshness of the punishment seems exaggerated, because they think that they have done nothing wrong, because they have returned to God what is theirs. The children of God, on the other hand, understand well the lack of love that this attitude entails: so much pampering of God, his paternal Providence over us thwarted for futile reasons. Negligence that the enemies of God take advantage of to confuse consciences. A sad situation that St. Josemaría was moved to repair. Sometimes I consider that a few enemies of God and of his Church live in fear of many good people, and I am filled with shame.

Let us pray with words that the Church puts on our lips today: Merciful Father, who never leaves those whom you have made rooted in your friendship from your hand; grant that we may always live moved by your love and a filial fear of offending you.

Audacity in the apostolate.

AS we consider the situation of the world and of souls, we realize the urgency of an incessant apostolate, which does not admit of fainting. Men need God. It is the echo of the Apostle’s eagerness for souls who will have so often helped us in the face of the fatigue of the immensity of the task. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how will they call on Him in whom they did not believe? Or how will they believe, if they have not heard of Him? And how will they hear without someone to preach? And how will they preach, if they are not sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News!

When we go to the Lord we are inflamed with desires for apostolate and we ask him for souls and the material means necessary for the work, with the desire to reach all the corners of the earth as soon as possible. Let us listen to what our Father tells us: take away from you that human prudence that makes you so cautious, forgive me, so cowardly.

“Let us not be people of narrow means, men or women who are minors, short-sighted, without a supernatural horizon. … Do we work for ourselves?” No!

Well, then, let us say without fear: Jesus of my soul, we work for You, and… Are You going to deny us material means? You know well how vile we are; however, I would not behave like this with a servant who would serve me …

Therefore, we hope, we are sure that you will give us what we need to serve you.

Apostolic audacity is not a matter of human self-confidence, but of love. A love for God that is translated into concrete apostolic action to bring souls to Him, because we know the redemptive desires of the Heart of Christ and we know that we are called to collaborate with Him in the extension of His redemptive work. The solution is to love, St. Josemaría assures us. St. John the Apostle writes some words that hurt me very much: “qui autem timet, non est perfectus in caritate.” I translate it this way, almost verbatim: he who is afraid, does not know how to love.

“Then you, who have love and know how to love, cannot be afraid of anything!” “Go ahead!”

To live in love, to carry out daily tasks with the care of souls, to be contemplatives: this is the content of the apostolic audacity that is part of the heart of our Christian vocation in the world. Boldness is something very simple and at the same time demanding, as is love. Do everything for Love and freely; never give way to fear or routine: serve Our Father God. No one can excuse himself from the desire for souls, because it would be the same as being dispensed from loving. The apostolic impulse grows with the love of each day.

Very often, not a few people have commented to me with amazement on the joy that, thanks be to God, my children have and transmit in Opus Dei. Faced with the evidence of this reality, I always respond with the same explanation, because I know of no other: the foundation of their happiness consists in not being afraid of life or death, in not being overwhelmed by tribulation, in the daily effort of living in a spirit of sacrifice, constantly ready - despite personal misery and weakness - to deny themselves, in order to make the Christian journey more bearable and kind to others.

Let us turn to the Blessed Virgin, so that she may enkindle us in the desire for souls. Let us ask her for light to see what we can do today in the apostolate, and the courage of the children of God to put it into practice, she listens to us. Moreover, we need her! … In the dead of night, when a small child is afraid, he shouts: Mom!

Thus I have to cry out many times with my heart: Mother, mother, do not leave me.