Today is the memorial of the
first Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church under the Emperor Nero in the year 64 A.D. When suspicion fell on Nero, he accused Christians of having set the fire of Rome. As a consequence of this, countless Christians were seized, mocked and put to death in unspeakable ways.
The Blood of Martyrs is the seed of (our) faith. And this is the truth of our Christian heritage.
The Prophet Amos summarizes this
in the first reading in these words: “
You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities”. God knows each one of us in a unique way. We will be punished for our iniquities and be rewarded for the good we do according to His merciful love.
In the Gospel we see the disciples in the middle of the sea tossed by a great storm. Although the Lord Himself was right there with them in the boat, they cried out in utter dread, “
Lord save us! We are lost!”
Jesus in His goodness calmed the wind and the sea, but He rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and their fear in spite of His presence. He told them:
“Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” The same rebuke is addressed
also to us, for our petty dreads and foolish fears.
Why? Because we forget that
He is ever present in our lives, right? And so, we fear for our health, children, our homes and so on. It does not mean that we should not fear at all. The book of King Solomon, the Proverbs says: “
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom” (
see Proverbs 9: 10).
There are also, of course, healthy fears and healthy concerns. We certainly need to take necessary precautions for our lives, our family or our normal well-being and for the spiritual welfare of our dear ones.
For example,
wearing masks in most cases, will help decrease
Covid-19 for all of us. In a special way we should have a healthy fear of sin.
Therefore, there are many foolish fears that hinder our daily events like, our work, our happiness and our spiritual life. These are the fears for which our Lord reprimands us and reminds us to trust His presence in our lives.
Fr. Mussie