DO NOT BE AFRAID
Because we live in anxious, troubling times, where so many people around the world are suffering intolerably, today’s readings can speak especially to us.
Jeremiah, in the First Reading, reflects on how his preaching has brought him suffering and isolation. Yet ‘the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero.’ The Psalmist cries out in anguish, but like Jeremiah, trusts that the Lord will answer with ‘help that never fails.’ St Paul in the Second Reading considers how sin and death hold sway in the world, but Christ has gained for us the abundant free gift of divine grace. In the Gospel, Jesus twice tells his disciples, ‘Do not be afraid’. Suffering will come their way, but the Father will always care tenderly for them.
Our lives, and those of our loved ones too, can be weighed down by fears, concerns or pain. May we strive this week to place our trust in the Lord, who is the ‘strength of his people’.
Source: Excerpted from the Scripture reflection courtesy of St Beuno’s Outreach in the Diocese of Wrexham, UK available at www.australiancatholics.com.au