June 26, 2023

Pope Francis calls ‘fear’ “one of the most terrible enemies of our Christian faith” (Angelus, June 21, 2020).  This Sunday’s gospel (Mt 10:26-33) exhorts the disciples and exhorts us to ‘fear no one’.  Jesus continues and says twice ‘Do not be afraid’.  When we are in the grips of fear and are not aware of this ‘enemy of faith’ it can easily turn into hopelessness, despair even.  Our interior attitude can turn sour with such thoughts as: ‘why bother, it is not worth it’.  Or ‘I have nothing to give’, or ‘whatever I have to offer is never accepted any way’.