Prophet Jeremiah: 'I see terror all around, lives come crashing down, friends watching
my downfall’. He looks to God for support! In the gospel Jesus speaks to us: ‘Fear not’!
Jesus turns our thinking, imagination to trust in God. Addressing mainly the religious
leaders of Jerusalem, Jesus questions their lack of faith. What is the meaning of the
saying: ‘you acknowledge me, I will acknowledge you before my Father; you deny me I
will deny you before my Father’? This is about acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah/
Christ [the anointed One of God]. Jesus is God’s love sent to the world [John 3:16].
Denial of Christ is denial of love and no one can know God without love. Life loses its
meaning and purpose without love! Self-giving love of Christ is the model for all to face
trials of life.
Jeremiah learned to trust in God; he realized his enemies could kill his body but no one
can crush his spirit and the truth he stands for. Jesus reminds us: there is a deeper
connection, relationship, we have with God because we are created in the image of
God; so, trust in God’s care and concern for us that he is Emmanuel, God with us, in
our sufferings and fears. There are those who want to persecute and kill Christians,
because we belong to Jesus, then there are things like pandemic, sickness, loss of job,
troubles in relationships, etc. all frighten us but our trust in God gives us a strength to
endure suffering or suffer with God. We suffer with God to transform unhealthy life
situations. Christians who fled from their homes and land during the terror attacks in the
Middle East said: ‘everything is taken away from us, but one thing no one can take way
from us, Jesus who is in our hearts’. Book of Maccabees says, ‘let us not fear he who
thinks he kills’. Our faith could be challenged by such events but we gather courage
through prayer and respond to life-situations not with hostility or revenge but with
compassion!
The story of Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago: his road to spiritual growth and
compassion began when a group of fellow priests confronted him with a question. They
asked him to consider whether his life was focused more on the church or on Christ.
Their question had a profound impact, causing Bernadin to rethink many of his priorities.
He resolved to rise early each day to devote more time for prayer. He emptied his
savings account and gave everything to the poor. The change was even reflected in his
appearance, once a portly figure, acquired look of a monk. It was part of a process of
conversion that changed a successful church man into a man of God that prepared him
for the trials that were to come. In 1993 Bernadin was accused of sexual abuse by a
seminarian. Though devastated by this accusation, cardinal Bernadin responded with
calm. He denied the charge while insisting that this case be investigated. He refused to
malign the character of the accuser. The story soon took a surprising turn. The accuser
who had been counseled by a therapist admitted the unreliability of his memories and
withdrew his charges. Bernadin met privately with the young man who was dying of
AIDS and offered his forgiveness. It was only the beginning of Bernadin’s way of the
cross; he announced that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died in 96.
In trials he refused to yield to fear or give up in despair. A life of gospel witness,
kindness and intimacy with God in prayer made him a model for todays gospel.
We seek peace and stability in situations of fear and unrest; we trustingly turn to Jesus
who said: ‘my peace, I give you’, a peace that transforms fear into acts of charity toward
all! In Flannery O’Connor story, ‘A good man is hard to find’ about the way of the wicked,
the character Misfit is asked why he doesn’t pray? He replies: ‘I do not want no help. I
am doing all right by myself. There is no real pleasure in life’! Failing to trust God,
connect to God in prayer and find true pleasure of life in loving lead to unhappiness and
disorder in life. Love removes all fear and helps to fill relationships with joy, treat people
with dignity. It is the spirit of forgiving and giving that brings peace, well-being of all.