Instead of my own comments I‘d like to share with you these thoughts of the former secretary of the Czech Bishops Conference.
Psychologists tell us that modern humans suffer from various kinds of anxiety and fear: fear of illness, aging, unemployment, inflation and rising prices, and therefore display irritability and restlessness. Previously people mainly worried about their souls; now it is the opposite, focused on their bodies, including comfort, wealth, and a variety of delights. So-called modern man is trying to live life as far as possible without God and be emancipated, in the sense that he rejects any reliance on a supernatural power. But the problem goes even deeper: although in theory there is no danger to our contemporaries and they can live quite normally, yet the anxiety remains essential, proportionate to his attempts to move away from God. The psychologist Adler stressed that the background of fear in man is his temptation to be like God, as we read in the first few pages of the Bible.
Some might argue that a true Christian does not suffer from fear. But from experience we know that‘s not true. There is a kind of fear that is specific for us believers. Because we live in the world, but we do not live like the world many consequences of our Christianity may arise and challenge us. It is this kind of fear Jesus is concerned with when he says to his disciples, Let not your hearts be troubled! But this is not so much a warning as the revelation of a reliable way to overcome any fears that might fill our heart: Believe in God, believe also in me!
Jesus points to himself, even as his death on the cross could not separate him from the Father‘s love, so all its paths point to the Father, always fulfilling his will. Whoever believes in him may reach a firm conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8,35). This conviction can overcome every kind of fear, because in every darkness the Lord‘s promise to him stands firm. The brightness of Easter radiates light to us, and the Holy Spirit – the Comforter – reminds us that there is a place prepared for us in the house of our heavenly Father.
Our spiritual home, the safe harbor of the church, is made up of the believers, living stones. According to Romano Guardini, anyone who wants to see and accept Jesus Christ, can find him in his Church. Because we ourselves make up this community, the Lord‘s call to overcome fear is directly binding upon us as an integral part of our apostolate.
P.MILOSLAV FIALA Opraem,a homily.
