Be Not Afraid! Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – A (Jeremiah 20:10-13; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26.33) Three times in today’s Gospel, Jesus cautions his disciples about fear: “Fear no one…. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul…. So, do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” This could be thought of as a call to “courageous confession.” Jesus is telling His disciples, and us, not to fear those who may kill the body in a persecution here on earth. They, and we, should worry about God the Father’s judgment which can cast the body and soul into Gehenna for eternity for failing to be loyal to Christ. Maybe we can see additional meaning in Jesus’ words. The early Church would suffer persecution and terrible tortures. In fact, persecution has been a feature of the Church’s life through the centuries. The times without persecution or opposition are really the exceptions. Jeremiah’s experiences of terror and conspiratorial whispering on every side in today’s first reading are all too real throughout the life of the Church. We can recall the example of St. Thomas More who was put to death under Henry VIII. We tend to romanticize those days as “merry old England” but, in those days, England was filled with spies. A word against the king overheard in the pub or on the street could transport you into prison. Persecution like this is still going on in many parts of the world today. There is another kind of persecution going on that will never hurt a hair of your head but can destroy your soul. Who are these people of whom we should really be worried? We should be afraid of those who can destroy our fidelity in marriage, our trust of others; who can destroy our faith, our spiritual life; who can destroy our commitment to truth and honesty; who can destroy our sense of generosity and responsibility for others; who can destroy our respect for the dignity of human life; who can destroy our values, our hopes, our following of Christ; who can destroy our self-respect by leading us to addiction or senseless violence. These modern-day persecutions will never even bruise the body. They don’t use an instrument of torture. But what they do use is dishonest media, selective publicity of wrongdoing, creation of cultural heroes who are steeped in materialism and immoral behavior, advertising, movies, humor, music, situation comedies, sarcasm, jokes, fashions, novels all to eat away at everything we consider moral, holy and sacred. These are the modern-day persecutors we should fear not because they can harm our body but because they can damage our soul. To paraphrase Jesus in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid of those who can kill only the body. Rather worry about the one who can kill the body and soul.” Secondly, St. Paul in today’s second reading puts this into a hope-filled perspective. Through Adam, he writes, the original sin entered the world. It spread like the crises in our nation today spreading lies, distrust, distortion corrupting everything and everyone it touches. Think of the claims of the “pro-choice” movement that it isn’t really a life or the apparent lies coming to light at our highest political levels. Think of how the unjust death of one man in Minnesota led to protests, violence, destruction, and death that had nothing to do with that man’s death. Think of how these events have been and are being used to advance the personal agendas of some people for their own purposes. Into this world, Jesus brought His grace – the grace that is more powerful than sin and has been given to each of us. We are given the power to form our conscience and to resist sin with the help of God’s grace. That grace doesn’t just float around in mid-air. It has been given to each of us in Baptism and strengthened through every sacrament. God has his eye on the sparrow and Jesus says, “You are worth more than many sparrows.” God has His eye on each of us. He gives each of us the grace we uniquely need in the dangers of faith we face. He has given us special grace in these past weeks when we couldn’t gather in the church, when we had to watch the Mass live-streamed and make a spiritual communion, when we couldn’t gather as the Body of Christ in this place. Yet, even now, whether we are physically in the church receiving the Eucharist or watching a live-streamed Mass and receiving Jesus spiritually, God gives us the power we need for courageous confession in our life because each of us is “worth more than many sparrows.” Lastly, how do we display courageous confession? First, by remembering that every person we look at is loved by God. Second, after World War II, public displays of faith in stadium events were common. During the Rosary Crusade sponsored by the Christophers, Father James Keller often spoke about the Christophers’ slogan, “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” To illustrate his point, he would ask that the stadium lights be turned off. Then, in the darkness, everyone was asked to light the candle each had been given on entering. With each person lighting one candle, he stadium was ablaze with light. Father Keller had made his point. Courageous confession comes simply and powerfully when you let your light be light. Let your light be light and the Church and its mission will be just fine. Like the Apostles of the early Church, we can be people of courageous confession in the Church today. Let your light be light – Be not afraid!