Fear can be a powerful emotion that is often unpleasant to experience. Three times in our gospel reading this weekend, Jesus encourages us to not be afraid. As I reflected on our scriptures, a quote from Yoda from Star Wars came to mind, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” That’s not far from the message of this weekend’s gospel, which speaks of the importance of trust, of not letting fear get in the way of living in the light of truth. If you are anything like me, you were raised to “not rock the boat.” However, Jesus is giving us a very different message. In our gospel reading Jesus tells us that what we hear in the dark, the truth that speaks in the quiet of our hearts, is to be proclaimed from the rooftops. In other words, Jesus is telling us that sometimes we need to rock the boat; sometimes we need to find the voice to speak to power. I leaned a long time ago that silence is complicity. When we choose to ignore jokes or comments that denigrate people, we give our silent consent to that line of thinking. When we fail to stand on the side of justice, we stand on the side of oppression. In our short gospel reading, as Jesus was sending his disciples out to preach, teach, and heal in his name, we heard Jesus encourage them three times with the words “Do not be afraid.” No matter what happens, I will be there with you. It’s the same for you and for me today – Jesus is telling us not to be afraid to do the right thing, because he loves us and is with us to the end.
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forevermore.