Saint Category Heading Goes Right Here.
View All Saint Titles
Today's Gospel
Cross the Valley of Fear
4 min
Gospel
Lk 12:32-48
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have been awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I tell you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.
Readings are from Dynamic Catholic’s New Testament Bible: RSV Catholic Edition
It’s time to take back your life.
It’s time to slow down to the speed of joy.
All revolutions have a moment when they begin. This is your moment.
Transcript
Cross the Valley of Fear
There are so many ways to experience the Gospel each Sunday. Sometimes the reading consists of a parable and it easy to follow along, but sometimes, a single reading can consist of several teachings and it can be hard to focus and draw sustenance from it. This Sunday’s Gospel is one of those readings.
One of my favorite ways to experience the Scriptures is to read a section, or in this case, Sunday’s Gospel, and ask the Holy Spirit to lead me to the word or phrase he wants me to focus on.
This week there are a number of messages that may stir your soul… Do not be afraid; Sell your possession and give to the poor; where your treasure is there your heart will be also; Be ready when the Master returns; From those who have been given much, much will be expected… to name just some of them.
It’s the opening words that strike me…Do not be afraid. They strike me for several reasons. First, because fear will stop us from living every other aspect of the Gospel. Courage is a prerequisite for Gospel living.
Perhaps that is why this is the most common phrase that appears in the New Testament and the most common phrase that appears in the Old Testament. Do not be afraid. Between the Old and New Testaments, this phrase appears more than one thousand times. Do you think God is trying to get a message across to us?
We have excuses for our fear and the inaction is breeds. We tell ourselves we are being prudent, that we are discerning. But there is a difference between fear and discretion, between fear and prudence, between fear and discernment. Fear is not a virtue.
The most dominant emotion in our modern society is fear. We are afraid—afraid of losing the things we have worked hard to buy, afraid of rejection and failure, afraid of certain parts of town, afraid of certain types of people, afraid of criticism, of suffering and heartache, of change, afraid to tell people how we really feel. We are afraid of so many things. We are even afraid to be ourselves. Some of these fears we are consciously aware of, while others exist subconsciously. But all these fears play a large role in directing the actions and activities of our lives. Fear has a tendency to imprison us. Fear stops more people from doing something incredible with their lives than lack of ability, contacts, resources, or any other single variable. Fear paralyzes the human spirit.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the acquired ability to move beyond fear. Each day we must pass through the jungles of doubt and cross the valley of fear. For it is only then that we can live in the high places, on the peaks of courage.
It is this courage that God wants to fill us with. This week as you prepare for Mass on Sunday, ask God to fill you with the courage you need to carry out the mission he is calling you to, to fill you with the courage you need to become more fully the person He created you to be.
