This being the first day of summer, I imagine most children on the island are looking forward to enjoying their vacation. The notion of returning to the classroom may be the last thing on their mind right now.
In one of the last Sunday episodes of Peanuts, Lucy is about to leave for school with her little brother Rerun but he can’t be found. Lucy eventually finds him hiding under his bed.
“I’m never going to school again,” Rerun cries from under the bed. “The teacher asked me if I thought I’ve learned everything I need to know. I think she is being sarcastic. Anyway, I said, ‘Yes.’ Now she’s mad at me.”
Lucy then asks, “Do you think you’ve learned everything you need to know?” Rerun replied, “I think I’ve learned all I need to know to live under a bed.”
Due to the myriad of stresses and complexities of life imposed on us by the pandemic and tensions rising from ongoing protests across the country in reaction to racism and white supremacy, we seek a nice, safe, comfortable place to protect ourselves from the horrible and to avoid the unpleasant. We’d like to hide under the bed and dodge the confrontations and risks that assail us daily if we could.
Despite what Jesus said, fear is a big part of life. We’re afraid of many things: the aftermath of injustice and intolerance, the rise of violence and terrorism, economic problems arising from the quarantine and a pandemic that has claimed too many lives and been a part of our daily reality for too long and will likely linger for months to come.
Fear is most destructive when it forces us under our beds and cripples us from accomplishing what is good and right and just. Dr. Martin Luther King preached, “Courage is the inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creative self-affirmation; cowardice produces destructive self-abnegation. Courage faces fear and masters it; cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it.”
Jesus said to his disciples, “Fear no one,” as they were about to go forth and evangelize, since, he assures them, no person can destroy another person’s soul. Ultimately if anyone is to be feared, God would be the one for only God determines our eternal fate in hell or heaven. Until the moment of judgment, God is caring and compassionate, knowing us so well that every one of our hairs is counted.
Do you believe that God knows you that well? Yes, God is concerned about each and every one of us. As Jesus then points out, “Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.” Yes, you are worth so much that Jesus died on the cross so that you could spend eternity with him in his heavenly mansion.
What are also counted are our good deeds, the depth of our relationship with God and our willingness to acknowledge God before others. On the day of our judgment, Jesus will say, ”This is one of my faithful disciples,” or “This one is not mine.” What Jesus will say about us depends on how faithful we are to the unique mission for which God created us.
We are back in ordinary time and the readings today bring up something quite ordinary: sin and fear. Why does Jesus caution us not to fear? He often tells us to love God and one another. Think about this: If we are afraid of someone, we cannot love that person. If we are afraid of God, we cannot really love God. Fear gets in the way of love. No wonder Jesus tells us, “Fear no one.”
At Mass, following the Lord’s Prayer, the celebrant prays, “Deliver us Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ.” With this prayer, we admit our dependence on God to protect us from fear.
While Jesus describes God as one who knows us so well as to know the number of hairs on our head, that doesn’t protect us from suffering, which is so often the consequence of free will and sin, either the choices we make or others make. Still God knows every struggle of every believer and graces suffering with divine presence.
Through the centuries faithful followers have drawn fire from enemies of the Church and Jesus. Many suffered cruelly for their belief but they found strength in Jesus’ words, “Be not afraid,” which enabled them to persevere rather than quit.
Our commitment to Christ is often put to the test. Like Jeremiah, we may hear denunciations. Don’t be afraid if people call you names because you have the courage to live your faith. We may suffer for our faith but God will never abandon or forget us. Jesus clearly doesn’t want us to hide under the bed.
If we have lived each day acknowledging Jesus before others each in our own way, whispered or proclaimed from the housetop, then we need not be afraid, for God is with us every step of the way to the threshold of heaven, looking forward someday to welcoming us to our eternal home.