Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time/Saint Benedict, abbot

Today's Mass Readings

Today’s gospel continues with the instructions that Jesus gives to His disciples precisely about how to be disciples. He knows that proclaiming the Kingdom of God, with its challenging message of exalting the lowly over the powerful and living in selfless love of God and one another, will be met with some resistance (particularly from the rich and powerful!). Yet, Jesus assures his disciples that we are worthy in God’s eyes and therefore should not be afraid. Rather we should be courageous to live as disciples precisely because, like Isaiah, God has chosen us. This charge from God comes with the assurance that He deals with us most intimately and most carefully, counting even the hairs on our head! Fear is often a primary obstacle to serving God. Sometimes this fear is instigated by others who mock our commitment to our parish, to our Church, to Christ. There are many types of fear that inhibit our ability to be disciples. Maybe a fear of unworthiness. Maybe a fear of rejection. Maybe a fear of foreign places. Maybe a fear of poverty. Maybe a fear of homelessness. Maybe a fear of death. God tells us time and again to leave these fears behind. Why? Not because we are careless or foolhardy. Not even because we want to become more “self-actualized.” Rather, because God is more powerful than all of those things – conquering even death on a cross. And this supremely powerful God cares for us.

Today, then, let us reflect on those fears that keep us from fully living as disciples and choose one small way in which we can, with God’s help, begin to overcome it. Maybe we take that walk across town we’ve been afraid to take. Maybe we talk to someone on the street whom we’d rather look past. Maybe we discuss the death of a loved one which has been particularly difficult to discuss. Maybe we find a way to approach someone against whom we’ve held a grudge. As we seek to serve Him, let us look to the Lord for strength! (Ps. 105: 4) because he cares deeply for us.

- Tim Gabrielli