Facing Our Fears

A man who is now a priest tells the story of when he and friend were freshmen in a high school bowling league. There was a senior in that league who was a bully, a real problem, and these two ninth grade friends were talking about what to do about him. They decided that they were each going to buy a soda, go up to the bully outside, and throw their sodas in his face to show they were not kids to be messed with. (Not recommended, but that is what these kids agreed to do!) So they bought their sodas and found the older bully out-side. The priest said his buddy looked at him, said “OK,” then turned and threw his soda on the bully. Meanwhile the boy who would later become a priest just stood there with the soda still in his hand - not because he was being good, but because he was afraid! The bully started to fight the boy who threw the soda, but his friend was unable to help him - standing there frozen in fear. Thankfully, an adult came and broke things up, but to this day the priest remembers that feeling of fear.

The Gospel according to St. Matthew today speaks to us about this kind of fear - fear that holds us back or drags us down. The disciples were already on edge as they faced a bad storm at sea. Now they saw someone doing the impossible - walking on the water - and feared it was a ghost! Jesus responded to their fear by announcing it was him, but even those who walked with him as his closest disciples struggled with whether to trust in him. And if they did trust Jesus, was that really him walking on the water? Peter had the courage to at least ask the Lord, if it is you, invite me to come walk toward you on the water. Peter’s faith and trust met with Jesus’ invitation, “Come,” and allowed Peter to join Jesus walking on the water. But then his fear got the best of him, and he began to sink. He focused on the fear, which drew his attention away from the Lord, and he began sinking. When Peter realized he is sinking, though, his faith instinctively returned his fo-cus to Christ and he cried out, “Save me, Lord!”

We all have things in our lives that bring us fear. That’s why the most common consolation Jesus offers us in the Gospels is: “Be not afraid, I am with you.” We might be wrestling with fear of the pandemic that is going on, fear of those who are different from us, fear of losing our income or our independence, or fear of change. We live in a culture that has debilitating fear of death and even of aging. Whatever might be paralyzing us, making us stand frozen like that young man, Peter teaches us to turn those situations over to the Lord.

We need to ask God to deliver us from these fears as we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, keeping our focus on him and not on the things we are afraid of. Jesus will reach out with a strong arm to save us and help us break free from what is holding us back. May we face our troubles and our fears by placing our faith in the Lord, who can transform our troubles and fears into signs of God’s power and love, and his gifts of healing and strength.