Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Fear is a powerful force in all our lives. Fear has likely been the reason why we have made many choices, but in today’s Gospel we see a fearless Jesus. He is told that Herod wants to kill Him; surely echoes of His childhood came to mind when the current Herod’s father sought His life shortly after birth, and thus He spent the first few years of His life in Egypt. But now fully grow, having begun His divine mission, He has no fear of earthy princes: nothing will stand in His way. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him, is with Him, and we must remember and trust that by our Confirmation—and the Spirit’s Gift of Fortitude—the same is upon and with us. Just as Jesus stood fearless against the world we, too, may be as fearless.
We need not let fear be the wind that blows us around; rather we are born again of the Spirit, and if we are on course with the will of God, then we have nothing whatsoever to fear.