Leave Fear Behind and Step into Freedom!

Homily for the 12^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 21, 2020. Gospel of St. Matthew 1026-33. Theme: Leave Fear Behind and Step into Freedom!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages us three times to not be afraid. He cautions us to intentionally avoid the tendencies we have towards worry, anxiety, and fear. He knows the paralyzing effects these things have on our peace of mind and quality of life. He also knows how they slyly and gradually work against trusting in God as a Father who watches over us and loves us.  And I think it’s very appropriate that this Gospel passage that urges us to not live in fear is proclaimed to us as we navigate our way to resuming a more normal life in the era of COVID-19.

Fear – with its terrible twin off-springs of worry and anxiety -  is like a deadly emotional virus that some people are easily susceptible to as we move forward.  So, it’s important to be aware of what we do and do not mean by this word. First, let’s be clear, there is indeed a certain kind of fear that is normal and healthy for us humans. It keeps us safe from real dangers and directs us to act wisely and responsibly.  Healthy normal fear is a form of prudence, which is a practical awareness of one’s surroundings with a sound, rational and balanced judgement about how to act in a particular situation.  This is not the kind of fear Jesus is talking about. And this is not the kind of fear that threatens some of us today.

The kind of fear I am talking about is an imagined and obsessive fear that paralyzes and imprisons us.  It’s a fear that presumes the virus to be lurking on everything and everyone no matter who or where they are.  It’s a dark fear that can become so habitual that it gives birth to a compulsive-obsessive lifestyle that demands sanitization before every action and sees any venture beyond one’s own little cocoon as a potential threat. It’s a fear that doesn’t look for God’s image in your neighbor but instead sees the germ in your neighbor, making him or her a potential enemy to health and life.

And in these days, it is sadly not that uncommon to find.  As I go along my daily business – at work, while out and about, or when in ministry – I see some people, too many people, who not only exhibit this kind of worry, but seem to wallow in it. My heart goes out to them because it is an self-imposed dark view of life that condemns such people to live almost exclusively in the shadows. But God is not found in shadows of fear. That is the domain of the Evil One who with his minions works overtime to keep his victims in emotional and spiritual bondage. 

This habit of giving in to excessive imagined fear is very much like an addiction. Just like an addiction it is a destructive behavior pattern that compromises a person’s freedom.  It takes over one’s thoughts. It rules one’s life. It calls the shots as to where a person will go, or whom they will see, or what they will do on a given day. When people allow themselves to become driven by such unrealistic fear they begin to slide into a life that becomes bit by bit more unmanageable and bit by bit increasingly chaotic. And as with any and every destructive behavior, they lose serenity of mind and peace of heart. They can no longer sees reality clearly.

I firmly believe that the fastest and surest way out of this prison of fear is to follow the same pathway addicts take to leave behind their bondage and destruction.  This is the way of humble and honest surrender to God in trust. It’s not easy but it is effective. It begins by acknowledging our fear, naming it for the false threat that it really is, and then learning to intentionally hand this fear over to God, step by step, bit by bit, throughout one’s day. It is a surrender that is made to God in faith, that is, out of trust, confident that He watches over us and loves us.

This is precisely the antitode to fear, worry and anxiety that Jesus is giving us in today’s Gospel. We heard him say to us: “Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” He reminds us that our heavenly Father watches over and protects even these smallest and seemingly most insignificant creatures, so why should we worry, we who are his children? Irrational fear and the infectious virus of anxiety can only grow within us when we begin to think and act as if we are in control of our lives.  And so, to consciously turn ourselves over the care of God is the perfect remedy, the perfect medicine, to cure this emotional infection.

As I mentioned earlier, not all fear is this imprisoning kind of dreadful darkness. And most of us will gradually return to normality just fine. But we do need to honestly ask ourselves if we are primarily walking in the light of life or in the shadows of death. Are our precautions normal and reasonable or are they excessive and over-magnified? Do we live in the reality that God is an ever-watchful Father who is control of our lives or are we acting under the assumption that we are in control and God is the bystander?

Those who discern that they struggle with harmful fear need to cultivate a deeply personal relationship with God, speaking heart-to-heart with the Father who loves them beyond all telling. They need to turn their wills and their thoughts over to God daily, even often throughout the day, remembering that they like the little sparrows, cupped safely in God’s provident hands. By faithfully doing this, day by day, bit by bit, trust will grow and anxiety will begin to dissipate, and the person who once suffered under the weight of darkness will come out into the light and experience the true joy and freedom of the children of God!