Fear No One

Horace

The 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

I wish we all could have a giant poster on the wall with Jesus’ amazing words today: FEAR NO ONE. That has got to be one of the most liberating bits of good news that Christ ever spoke.

When you think about it, it’s really pretty surprising how much we’re willing to complicate and add stress to our lives just by fearing other people. Instead of being who we genuinely want to be, or doing the good that our heart most desires to do, we second-guess ourselves about how other people might react—and then talk ourselves out of things. Our fear holds us back from having integrity and being authentic to who we are.

The Roman poet, Horace, is credited with the well-known Latin phrase, carpe diem—“seize the day.” In other words, don’t let fear kill your chance to take advantage of an opportunity to do something good. Hey, things might just work out to your benefit!

I was watching a movie on TV the other day. In one scene, some popular high school girls were giving another girl—the so-called “plain” one—a hard time. They had her intimidated until the hero came along and gave the girl the “Fear No One” speech. All of a sudden, this previously timid and frightened girl said to herself, “Oh, what the heck…”—and she bit the bullet and decided to be confident and bold, and go after what she wanted… with great success!

How many of us have been so afraid of rejection that we just give up before we start? Maybe it has to do with dating or pursuing a relationship. Or maybe our fear has to do with our work life; comic strips like Blondie and Dilbert have a field day with characters being cowed by the boss!

Other times, our fear has to do with our faith. You might be embarrassed to make the sign of the cross or pray the rosary in public… or say grace in a restaurant… or speak up about your religious beliefs to somebody who could really use God’s grace in their life. What a terrible loss of an opportunity to witness God’s love—missed because of fear.

Sometimes, the fear of embarrassment can even run the other way. I’ve talked to a lot of parents over the years who agonized over their children’s choices. Their story always starts, “We raised our kids to be good Catholics, but…” Then they tell me about how this child has married outside the church, or is in a gay or lesbian relationship, or has had an abortion, or wound up going to jail, and so on. Usually, these parents are desperate to be there for their kids—to love them without judgment, to comfort them—just the way they should!—but they’re afraid of what other people might say or think. It’s as if they’re petrified that the Catholic police will pounce on them and throw them out for being disloyal just because they want to do something good: stand by their kids!

So Jesus tells us today, “Fear no one! Don’t be afraid to say what you want to… in fact, shout it out from the roof tops!” Don’t be afraid to do the good and loving thing your heart tells you to do. Don’t be afraid to take a risk, step out on a limb, stand up for yourself or someone you love, help someone in need. Don’t hide your light under a bushel basket. Christ reminds us that nothing is hidden from God anyway. Everything that’s done in darkness, everything that’s said in a whisper—it will all be loudly and publicly revealed later on! There are no secrets in the kingdom. So when all is said and done, what’s the point in being timid?

And then, the Lord tells us so tenderly and lovingly about the two little sparrows sold for a penny… that not one of them falls to the ground without God’s knowledge. So how much more God loves us and will watch our back no matter what.

There’s a great story about a workman who was on the night construction crew for a new 16-story downtown office building. The man was leveling bricks on the seventh floor when he slipped and fell. He managed to grab onto the edge of the wall with his fingertips. He hung there in desperation. His cries for help were drowned out by the clatter and bang of riveting machines and all the other heavy equipment. He tried to pray. Again and again he shouted. His strength was giving out. At last with a scream of terror he had to let go. He fell—about six inches to the scaffolding that had been right beneath him all the time in the darkness.

The lesson is, often there is a way out of our fears, if only we knew it. The darkness of doubt and ignorance hides the help from our eyes. Often the best way out of a situation that seems hopeless or completely scary is to just let yourself go, in the sense of putting your complete confidence and trust in Jesus Christ. He promises today that he’ll be there to catch you, much the way that laborer found the scaffold underneath him.

Wouldn’t it be great to trade in your fear for something much better? Trust in the Lord’s love and commitment to you. This week, maybe you can find some fear barrier of your own to smash.