Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
In these times of uncertainty – political and economic changes largely beyond our control – I find it tempting to fear, easy to despair. I imagine others with a more vulnerable status than mine feel these things even more acutely. Today’s First reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (13:1-8) gives me comfort and encouragement. Not only comforting that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”, but also the reminder that God “will never forsake you or abandon you.”
This letter written to Christians nearly two thousand years ago reads as if it could have been written to Christians today, exhorting us to respond with love at a crucial time in our country, in our world: “Let brotherly (sisterly) love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as yourselves, for you also are in the body .... Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have ....”
And lest we be overcome with fear, this same letter encourages, “Thus we may say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Of course, it would be foolish and naive to think that following Christ guarantees our bodily safety. Even today’s gospel reading (Mark 6:14-29) reminds us that speaking the truth, being a prophet, can be dangerous, as we hear again how John the Baptist was beheaded for such courage.
Yet, as today’s Responsorial Psalm (27) also reminds us, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge of whom should I be afraid?”
Kings and rulers and presidents and even nations will come and go, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” In this I take great comfort. May we have the conviction, courage and strength of John the Baptist to follow Christ, and pray with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.” Amen.
—Eileen Miller