Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Darkness creates fear. So does the unknown, the past, and the future. Fear arises when known and unknown forces impinge upon us, pressing us to act contrary to our natural instincts. Living in the present moment, feeling the pains of the past, concerned about the future awaiting the worst, hoping for the best, fear easily paralyzes us. Rather than discern the cause of our fears and whether the risks are worth our efforts, we easily dismiss our fears. We rush in where angels dread to go; or we avoid entering into the fray when we know we should go.
Fear, typically a negative emotion, can also be a protective and motivating factor. Fears can and should drive us forward, achieving our desired goals despite the chance of failure. Fear can and should protect us from dangers that dare us to defy death with foolish heroics.
Discernment counts the costs and looks at the rewards. Fear, as Revelation tells us, ought not deter us from facing death because true fear reveals that our love for God is greater than our love for life (Rev. 12:11).
Fear, as we know from Scripture, is the beginning of Wisdom, reverencing the awe and majesty of the supernatural. Fear, if we take time to discern, protects us from evil and leads us towards the good. Discerning our fears, however, are hard lessons, yet so important.
Stuck, overwhelmed, we, as did St. Peter, confront our fears when following Jesus. Despite the tests that come with faith, we face our fears. Emboldened, we too walk by faith, not by sight. We, too, walk upon the waters for our eyes are fixed upon the Lord of Life. We, too, so focused on God’s call are undaunted to the troubles surrounding us. Yet, when our faith is worn - when we are weak - and when we feel forsaken, we too cry out as did Peter.
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me (Ps 69:1–2).
Fear intuits the terrors of the night, the destruction at the noon. Fear fathoms evil, abounding and surrounding, stealing from us what we love. We love life, and when our lives face dangers that threaten those that we love, including our own lives, fear arises. Peter saw his life sinking into the sea. Yet, while battling his fear, calmly and simply Jesus chides him, chides us too: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31).
As offensive as we may think his chiding is, Jesus, the mighty Warrior, the defender of our faith, battles with us. He does not let our enemy overwhelm us, though at times, we do feel overwhelmed. Jesus lets us battle with Him, so to strengthen our trust in Him. He will not let us fall into the depths, but through faith, that conviction in Jesus to save, we have his courage upholding us.
Jesus won victory. He has conquered. He has freed us from our fears giving us courage, not the courage that comes from our hearts, but the courage that comes from Jesus Himself. Just before his own death, in which He would courageously defy death, resurrecting, He tells his disciples: “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NASB).
Courage counters despair which is the fruit of fear. Courage, a gift of the Holy Spirit, inspires heroism. Augustine, defining fortitude, roots this virtue in love, and courageous “love dreads no hardship, not even death” (II-II, q 123, a. 4 obj. 1).
The Holy Spirit Who infuses in us a divine courage in which the force of fear inverts. No longer do we fear, but others fear us. We have a divine courage to withstand and stand up steadfast in faith. Through courage, we walk by faith. Not the faith that worries about the outcome but a faith that knows the outcome. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? . . . God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor 15:55-57).
Doubt intensifies our fear. But faith cancels doubt. Faith, “the supernatural union for the intellect and its participation in divinity” (Karol Wojtyla Faith According to St. John of the Cross, p. 57) enlightens the mind, transforming the heart to entrust our total self into the hands of God. Despite the terrors that plague our lives, faith trusts God’s power to save us. In this power we know and trust “The gates of Hades shall not prevail” (Mt 16:18).
Hell fears heaven because the gates that protect hell from God’s presence cannot prevail. These gates give way, in fact are already broken, because Christ destroyed them. Through his resurrection, the Gates of heaven are thrown wide open. Jesus broke our enslavement, breaking us free, showing us that perfect love casts out all our fears. Victory is ours if we but have his perfect love (I John 4:18).