Not a spirit of fear

A dear old friend of mine told me that when he was a boy he and his father were once in a boat during a storm. He became frightened and asked his father to “Make it stop.”

As fine a fellow as his dad was, of course, he could not make the storm stop.

God our Father, of course, can.

But it is not always better that the storm stop.

Indeed, while prudence is always important, fear can be more dangerous than any storm.

Fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of discomfort, fear of embarrassment, fear of loss, fear of loneliness – these are all fears that we can face.

These are all fears which, by the grace of God our heavenly Father in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can overcome, as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s first reading (Romans 8:12-17).

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with Him
so that we may also be glorified with Him.