The last several months have provided lots of reasons to be concerned and even afraid. There is the coronavirus itself, of course, and all that goes along with it: the hardships of quarantine and social isolation, the devastating effects to the economy, and the suspension of public Masses and worship services. There were the severe storms around Easter that led to widespread power outages and property damage. More recently, we have been alarmed to see both structural racism and police brutality as well as resulting civil unrest and violence. I’m sure we could add many more things to the list, especially things from our own personal lives that give us cause for fear and uncertainty. There is no shortage of things to worry about!
Perhaps it is very providential then that our Gospel today begins as pointedly as it does. “Fear no one,” Jesus says to the apostles. That sounds like a tall order, and maybe unrealistic – I mean, does Jesus know all the things we are dealing with right now? Well – yes, in fact, as he goes on to explain. He tells how God the Father has accounted for all things, from the sparrows that fly in the sky to counting the hairs on our heads, and he has ordered all things in the mystery of his Divine Providence – the arrangement of all the events according to his ultimate purpose. And eventually, Jesus says, that purpose or plan will be revealed to all, in eternity: “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” What is important then is not understanding, but faith – faith in the Lord, and fidelity to what he has commanded us.
Illustration of two red birds and a white flower (1892) by Imao Keinen
In this Gospel passage, Jesus is speaking to the Twelve apostles particularly about what they will suffer in his name: persecution, rejection, even arrest, torture, and death. Those sound like some pretty fearful things, to be sure! But in the context of eternal life – and an eternal plan by which God has ordered all things to the ultimate good of those who love him, as St. Paul says – then even those fearsome things can be accepted, endured, even suffered willingly and joyfully in faith. In our own circumstances, we can do what those saints and martyrs did in history – embrace the present moment, find the voice of God speaking to us in the midst of our trial, and believe that despite our present suffering, somehow God in his great wisdom and love has provided for this moment *for our good* – and provided us for this moment. Our previous pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, once said: “Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.”
This past Friday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the great feasts of our Church and I think especially important for our present time. The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a testament of the love of God for us, a love made known in the human heart of Jesus. The love of Christ’s Heart is triumphant, but it is also a love that empties itself, that pours itself out for others – first, in the Lord’s Incarnation, most clearly in his Crucifixion and Death, and then eternally at the Father’s right hand, where it seeks always to reconcile sinners with God. In other words, in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we see that Love is not incompatible with suffering – indeed, true love is purified and strengthened in suffering.
José de Paéz, The Sacred Heart of Jesus with St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Aloysius Gonzaga (c. 1770)
The Love of the Sacred Heart is a model for our own form of loving. Even if we recognize the love of Christ will always exceed our own, we must strive to love in that same self-emptying, sacrificial way. That’s why the love of a Christian is often best expressed and shared in the context of suffering: whether that is enduring joyfully and prayerfully hardships that come upon us unexpectedly; or re-prioritizing what is most important, especially when money or other resources are tight; or sacrificing our own comfort or well-being to care for those who are within our ability to help; or enduring the scorn of others in order to stand up for our Christian values, or to not shirk from what our Catholic faith calls us to do. In these ways, and in many more, we have the opportunity not just to renew our faith in the providential plan of the Father, but to give witness to it in the love of the Son, a love that does not shy away from suffering, but embraces it as part of the mystery of redemption.
Friends, all of this can be summarized by that wonderful passage from the 1st Letter of John: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn 4:18a). As we face the various things of the present time, whether the coronavirus or any of the other things which make us worried or afraid, let’s be careful not to let our fears overcome us. Indeed, let’s do better than that. Let's strive to “cast out” our fears, by renewing our belief in the ever-present love of God and by reaffirming our commitment to revealing that love in our own lives – to "speak it in the light" and "proclaim it on the housetops." Our trials and our sufferings and even our fears (4:18b) provide us with the opportunity to be further perfected in love (4:18b) – that is, to be more closely conformed to the sacrificial but triumphant love of Christ. May the saints, our brothers and sisters in heaven, assist us with their prayers so that after our trials have ended, we may join them in glory.
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