Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today in the Gospel, Jesus encourages His disciples to be fearless. In the previous passage He revealed to them that their mission of evangelization will come with some daunting consequences. They may be maligned, disregarded, attacked, and perhaps even killed. But even in the face of this, Jesus exhorts them to “fear no one.”
Jesus knows that fear is one of the most crippling of our human emotions. Fear exists in our biological make-up to try and protect us, but in the complex arena of human interaction, existential fear more often paralyzes and imprisons us with a sense of hopelessness. When we look realistically at the world today, there are many reasons to fear, just as there were for the first disciples, but Jesus presents them with antidotes that remain true and effective today – faith, hope, and action.
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, spoke about this in an interview with Italian psychotherapist Salvo Noè, saying,, “The only way not to be afraid of the future is to do good now, giving up the regrets and remorse that imprison the heart. What we do now creates our future. That is why we must not fall into the devil’s trap that only generates fear.”
When we shout the good news of God’s love from the proverbial rooftops we remind ourselves of the reason for our own hope, and shine the light of God’s optimism into the darker corners of our world, our community, and perhaps even ourselves. We are loved, we are cared for in a unique and profound way. We are known and loved for who we truly are. We are part of something greater than ourselves, a creation formed and nurtured by love. We are not alone, we are never abandoned, we do not need to fear.
This week I invite you to join me in doing as Jesus and our Holy Father suggests – doing good now, to create a future for our world that embraces HOPE (Holy Optimism Pervading Everything) in all its forms.
I wish you and your loved ones blessings of good health, true peace, and great courage,