This homily was given at Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church, Ashland, OR on the Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 25, 2023.
A seminarian I know went to Tijuana as a missionary.
He spent a summer working with the poorest of the poor, preaching the Gospel.
And many of the people he preached to and prayed with were set free from sin and healed from lifelong wounds, coming to follow Jesus in the Catholic faith.
At the end of the summer, that same man, who had preached fearlessly in the slums, came home to California.
Back home, “Jesus talk” was not welcome.
And as he sat at the kitchen table with his parents, who had marriage trouble, and his brothers, who were trapped in dead-end jobs and struggling with addictions and vices, a coldness came over his heart and sealed his lips.
His own family and friends were every bit as desperate as the poor in Tijuana for the saving truth of the Gospel, but he felt sure they would reject it… they would reject him.
Fear keeps us from acknowledging Jesus Christ before others, especially those closest to us—not the fear of death or torture, but of their reactions or potential judgments: fear of rejection, being mocked, insulted, ashamed.
And so, out of fear, we stay silent and say nothing.
But as we do, the cold chain of fear tightens around our hearts and keeps us bound.
As we choose to say nothing, we become slaves to fear…
And we know who’s holding the other end of that chain.
Fear is among the Devil’s most prized instruments, to hold us captive and keep us from doing the will of God.
Jesus Christ comes to set all the captives free and to break every chain, including fear, that holds us enslaved.
When Jesus says, “Fear no one,” he’s not giving an impossible command.
Rather, he’s telling us to live in the truth, to live in accordance with grace.
It’s only natural for us sometimes to feel afraid.
But the gift of grace given through Jesus Christ, without eliminating our emotions or any other part of our human nature, lifts up our humanity to the point of sharing in His divinity, so that we can now do things beyond our natural capacities: not only what is human, but what is divine.
In other words, Jesus is not telling us not to feel afraid; we can’t choose what we feel.
He is telling us we don’t have to live in slavery to fear; we can choose to live in the freedom offered us by grace, the freedom to do what is right and necessary, even in the face of fear and resistance.
We may be surrounded by terror on every side, but the Lord says to us what he said to his prophet Jeremiah: “Do not be terrified on account of them, for I am with you.”
Our Lord Himself is with us to strengthen us, and He directs our attention away from what terrifies us back to His presence with us.
“I am with you to deliver you.”
Today, now, at this Holy Mass, we renounce the spirit of fear in the name of Jesus and we receive the Holy Spirit of confidence in the truth.
For the Enemy has no power over us except what we allow him – and by the grace of Christ on the Cross, we take even that back.
As we receive the Body of Christ in Holy Communion, we receive a share in His fortitude, His courage, His confidence in the Father’s love.
And as we act more and more in the truth of that love, freely acknowledging Christ before others, Christ also speaks freely of us before His Father, the Son telling his Father the names of those He loves.
The Father loves us in the Son, and the perfect love of the Father drives out our fear.
For the Father holds us in his hand.
Jesus says, “All the hairs of your head are counted!”
He’s that close to us, and He will never reject us.
And on the last day, when our earthly lives are ended and our mission here is done, we shall be joined with God and all those who love Him in the very heart of divine love, the heart of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.