Readings: Ephesians 1: 11-14; Psalm 33; Luke 12: 1-7
The Christian is called to discern the leaven that moves his life: is it the fear of death, which leads to hypocrisy and the accumulation of goods, or the fear of God, which leads to truth and freedom in mercy? The fundamental fear to be overcome is that of death. To escape death, the solution is not to deny Christ in the time of persecution, but to relativize its gravity. Physical death is superficial, it does not touch the deepest reality of man, it does not deprive him of true life.
The discourse of the fear of God is the most difficult to reconcile with the Gospel message. The image of God who punishes with eternal damnation is the most contrary to the preaching of Jesus, centered on the revelation of God the Father, full of love and mercy. Fearing God means concretely accepting the truth that God is God, and not wanting to lose him because he is our life. The Gospel speaks of hell not to terrify man, but to make him aware of the harm he does to himself when he follows as a guide the fear of death. The fear of hell must not lead to fear of God, but of the evil that distances us from God. Here concretely the Gospel says to fear the judgment of God more than that of men. Fear comes from the awareness of our smallness and, above all, from the awareness of our sin. But God is love and mercy and takes care of his little ones and his poor.
There is beauty within us. We have to go back to believing how beautiful we are inside. This beauty is called authenticity, and a person is willing to be authentic only if he has a profound experience of love. But love is knowing that there is someone who takes care of us. This is why Jesus uses the suggestive, concluding image of today's passage: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Even the hair on your head is all numbered. Don't worry, you are worth more than many sparrows ”.
We are not forgotten, we are not alone, we are not at the mercy of chance or events. Lord, we know You love us and are aware of every feeling, thought and experience we have in life. Help us to continually turn to You in all things knowing of Your perfect love and guidance. Have a blessed day, Abba Meskel