Say No to Worry

 The speed the world is moving is more than that of those flight that go to war.  A lot is happening that is making human kind, worried, anxious. Depression is dancing to many of our young people’s lives, and while the scientist are getting vaccination for covid19, no one seems to better way out of depressions and anxiety. “No be worried!” and was a reflection on the anxieties we face in our lives.

In these time of uncertainty I recall the word of my favourite saints who kept encouraging those who came to him for physical, spiritual or emotional help, “Worry not, Pray, Hope and don’t worry.”  When time like these of difficulties, lockdown and the pandemic sweeping from one end of the world to the other, when at the same time violence and resentment of all kind, when problems of all kind stare at each one us, we all have to unite in prayer, hope and don’t worry. This is the message of Saint Pio to us today.

Just this day I face a challenging thoughts and experience that I share with a best friend of mine who text me back and said in his own words “No be worried!” and at the end of his text he said, “offer Him every day this desire as you offer other prayers, make it a lifestyle but never forget to say… ‘Let your will be done.”

Saint Pio was a man of great faith.  While he had less that entertained the world, he knew God and he knew about Him.  I suspect that Padre Pio advice against hope, prayer and less worry came from his knowledge both of God’s words and His ever-abiding presence with us.

As I reflect with you on Pio’s words, I began to think about how many times God speaks those words in the Bible.

Remember the story of Abraham.  When God made him to be the father of many nations, Abraham was frightened. Just like me and you, he may have been wondering how the future will be. But God responded: “Don’t be afraid!”

Who gets a visit from an angel like Mary? She was frightened after Gabriel visited with the news she was to become the mother of the Saviour. God’s to her: “Don’t be afraid!” On the other hand the husband, Saint Joseph was ready to divorce her after he knew she was pregnant. He was not only upset because of her being pregnant but by unanswered question of how she got pregnant. While there wondering what to do the angel appers to him in a dream with he words: “Don’t be afraid!”

I am not sure how much scripture base you are but there is one part of the life of Saint Peter where he was frustrated as we are at this time of Corona. Like many of us at the end of the rope, Peter thought that it was impossible to catch fish yet at the end of it he had an amazing catch of fish. Jesus said to him: “Don’t be afraid.” (Luke 5:1-10)

If I was on the boat with Jesus during the stomp I would have screamed or maybe just surrender and start swimming before I drwon but when the apostles were in that boat rocked by a terrrible storm, Jesus come up one them and said: “Don’t be afraid!” (Mark 4:35-41).

Mary Magdaline was not only known of her sinfulness but also for her love of Jesus. She was Amazon going those visited the tomb of Jesus after his death Easter morning. Finding it empty, she didn’t recognize her Lord Jesus in the garden. She was frightened, and Jesus said to her: “Don’t be afraid!” (John 20:1-18)

From the hear of God to the lips of his saints “Don’t be worried”

So, what about you and me?  As you and I fast-forward through our days, how do we receive God’s words: “Don’t be afraid”?  How do those words sound when you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, or you’ve lost your job, or you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, or you face foreclosure, or in lockdown at this time of Corona virus?  

How do you respond to those words when you’re addicted to pornography, drugs or gambling, or here like me, you don’t know whats the end of what you are doing, or somebody has said something about you that is clearly false, or your body is breaking down in your senior years?

How do those words sound: “Don’t be afraid”?

Is God for real when He asks us to not be afraid? Is He seeing what we are facing at this moment?

He sure is!

But let’s get something straight.  God recognizes that moments of fear are real.  God is not asking us to deny the fear that comes with cancer, foreclosure, divorce, abuse, aging, unemployment, addiction, loneliness or betrayal. 

How do we know that?  Because of what Jesus Himself went through.

When Jesus went into the desert in anticipation of His public ministry, He was all alone—except for the devil.  And He was afraid. He may have slept on the sad as I sleep on this floor, in coldness and dust. I am afraid what is coming next after such insensitivity.

Jesus knew what was going to happen before it happened. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane anticipating His imminent betrayal, He was afraid.

When Jesus was on the cross and felt forsaken by everyone, including His Father in heaven, our Lord was very much afraid. These moments come to us in different ways and they may through us from connecting with fearless Lion of Judah.

Fear is a normal, natural response to real threats in our lives.  Jesus felt fear because He was fully human, as well as fully God.  You and I should not be ashamed of our fear.

But God does not leave us in fear, because God does not leave us.  His response to our fear is found in words spoken by the angel to Joseph in one of his dreams: “And they shall name Him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

When you and I think about the fears that Jesus faced in the desert, in the Garden or on the hill of Calvary—in all of these moments Jesus knew that His Father, our God, was with Him.  God is also with you and me, offering support, strength, guidance and peace.

Yet there’s something else that we need to think about.  When God says, “Don’t be afraid,” God is also speaking from His own fear.  How can it be possible for God to fear?  After all, God is perfect!

What God fears is that our fear might drive us away from Him; that our fears will break our relationship with Him. 

When we face a great moment of fear, we are tempted to blame the problem on Him.

At the very time we have an opportunity to learn important lessons about life and grow closer to God by trusting Him with our fears, we are tempted to turn our backs on the Lord and bolt. Sometime like these I want to let go the rope.  As we are literally hell bent on blaming God as the cause of our fears, it is important to remember the response of our ancestors in the faith, such as Abraham, Mary, Joseph, Peter and the apostles, and Mary Magdalene.  When God told them, “Don’t be afraid,” they trusted.  They trusted in Emmanuel—“God with us.”  Their trust allowed Him to carry them through their fears.

The same can be true for you and me.  And when we follow their lead, we also help to alleviate Someone Else’s fear—God’s.  We can emulate our ancestors in the Bible and take away God’s fear by not falling into the temptation of blaming Him and by not turning away from Him.

And so, as I share with you once again that beautiful advice given by my Saint, Padre Pio, “No be worried, Hope and Pray,” I hope you and I can take his advice to heart.  Why?  Because God is Emmanuel.  God is with us.

No be afraid!