Trust/Fear - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Sometimes it’s hard not to fear. It seems like the reasonable and unavoidable thing to do: for example, if you get a bad diagnosis from the doctor, or lose a job, or hear a piece of terrible news. In these situations, I sometimes find myself trying to trust in God but failing. Fear gets the better of me. That’s when I find comfort in old adage from the Scottish philosopher John McMurray about real religion and false religion.

I’ll paraphrase: False religion says that if you believe in God, nothing bad will ever happen, so don’t worry. Real religion says that even if you believe in God, something bad might happen, but there’s no need to worry. In fearful times we tend to forget that God is right there with us, no matter what happens—through our friends, our families, even our doctors—and that God gives us all sorts of resources to deal with our problems and move through them, and if we’re lucky, past them. The key is remembering all this when the fear starts and focusing on the trust instead.

(Adapted from Fr. James Martin, SJ)

Fighting fear with faith - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Do you ever feel haunted by a past failure or a guilty conscience? King Herod, the most powerful and wealthy man in Judea, had everything he wanted, except a clear conscience and peace with God. Herod had respected and feared John the Baptist as a great prophet and servant of God. John, however did not fear to rebuke Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. John ended up in prison because of Herodias' jealousy. Herod, out of impulse and a desire to please his family and friends, had John beheaded. Now Herod's conscience is pricked when he hears that some think that the Baptist has risen.

When Herod heard the fame of Jesus he supposed that John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, had returned from the dead. Unfortunately for Herod, he could not rid himself of sin by ridding himself of the man who confronted him with his sin. Herod was a weak man. He could take a strong stand on the wrong things when he knew the right. Such a stand, however, was a sign of weakness and cowardice. The Lord gives grace to the humble, to those who acknowledge their sins and who seek God's mercy and pardon. His grace and pardon not only frees us from a guilty conscience, it enables us to pursue holiness in thought and action as well.  God's grace enables us to fight fear with faith.

(Adapted from Don Schwager)