Addresses and Homilies

Homily
Opening Mass
Knights of Columbus 127th Supreme Convention
August 4, 2009

Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop of Phoenix

“It is I; be not afraid”

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix

 In the Year of the Priest proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, as we open the Supreme Convention of the largest Catholic lay organization in the world, founded by a priest, Fr. Michael McGivney, we celebrate today the Feast of the Patron Saint of Priests, Father John Vianney. With good reason, we give thanks to God for our Catholic faith, and we give joyful praise to Jesus Christ, our beloved Lord and Great High Priest.

In the Gospel passage for this Mass (Mt 14:22-36), a battle rages between fear and faith. The disciples in the boat, tossed about in a stormy sea, are frightened by the pounding of the waves and the violence of the wind. When Jesus comes to them, walking on the sea, they are even terrified of Him; they cry out in fear, “It is a ghost,” At once Jesus speaks to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

This battle with fear is very real. It is part of our human experience. We all have fears to face, those that arise from natural causes, such as the squalls and storms on the Sea of Galilee, and other storms, more spiritual and social in nature, that arise within our hearts or in our relations with others.

This is why the Lord so frequently tells us, “Do not be afraid.” When announcing to Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God, the Angel Gabriel said (Lk 1:30), “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” The Angel brought the same message to Joseph (Mt 1:20), “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” In His public ministry, Jesus frequently repeated this exhortation, especially to St. Peter. The Apostles needed to hear this message, not only when engulfed by a violent storm but also when worried about what they were to eat, to drink, or to wear, or what they were to say. Not surprisingly, they were overwhelmed with fear and fled into the darkness when Jesus was arrested and led off to be crucified. But, even after His Resurrection, they were afraid and needed to hear our Savior say, more than once, “Peace be with you, it is I, be not afraid.”

What, in particular, should we not be afraid of? To answer this question, we need, first, to recall that there are two kinds of fear: the fear of a slave and the fear of a beloved child. The latter kind of fear is good, helpful, and even necessary for our salvation. Through Psalm 110 (vs. 10), and many other places in the Sacred Scriptures, God teaches us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In fact, the fear of the Lord is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Cf. Is 11:2). It is not a slavish fear but rather the fear of a beloved son or daughter. This filial fear keeps us to be mindful of our weakness in the face of temptation. It helps us to recall how easily we could turn from God and sin. Filial fear strengthens our resolution to avoid all occasions of sin and find shelter in the mercy of the Lord. It helps us say with fervor each day, “and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Pope John Paul II, who so frequently pondered and repeated Jesus’ words, “Be not afraid,” wrote that, while it is good to be afraid of falling into sin, “We should not fear the truth about ourselves.” He pointed to St. Peter as a good example to follow (Cf. Crossing the Threshold, p 5f). Recall how Peter, in the presence of Christ’s goodness became keenly aware of his own unworthiness, and said (Lk 5:8), “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But Christ answered him at once (Lk 5:10), “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Our courage comes not from ourselves but from the One who made us and redeemed us. Even when we sin, His love never fades; indeed He says (Lk 15:7), “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

Jesus wants us to overcome all slavish fear of God. He teaches us to call God “our Father” and He says (Jn 3:16), “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” The power of this divine love is far stronger than the darkest of our doubts and fears. For Christ is the light that (Jn 1:5) “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

In addition to telling His disciples, “Be not afraid,” Jesus strengthened their courage by assuring them (Mt 28:20), “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Was this not the message that St. John Vianney so eloquently proclaimed, especially through the Sacrament of Confession and through his daily celebration of the Eucharist? Why did over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the obscure little town of Ars in the last year of Father Vianney’s life? Were they not looking for something the world cannot give? Did they not need to believe in the love of the heavenly Father, which embraces us in the Sacrament of Penance?

When Pope John Paul II was asked why he so frequently repeated Jesus’ words, “Be not afraid,” he said that the world today needs, perhaps more than ever before, to hear this message from credible witnesses. “Man who, even after the fall of Communism, has not stopped being afraid and who truly has many reasons for feeling this way, needs to hear these words. Nations need to hear them…Peoples and nations of the entire world need to hear these words. Their conscience needs to grow in the certainty that Someone exists who holds in His hands the destiny of this passing world; Someone who holds the keys to death and the netherworld (cf. Rev 1:18); Someone who is the Alpha and the Omega of human history (cf. Rev 22:13)—be it the individual or collective history. And this Someone is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16)—Love that became man, Love crucified and risen, Love unceasingly present among men. It is Eucharistic Love. It is the infinite source of communion. He alone can give the ultimate assurance when He says ‘Be not afraid’ (Ibid, p. 221f).”

When Father John Vianney became pastor in the little town of Ars, in southern France, where he would serve for 41 years, it may have seemed to many that his first pastorate would be marked by tranquility and peace. But that was not the case!

Catholics in Ars, like those of the rest of France in the first years after the chaos and persecution of the French Revolution, were ignorant of their faith and indifferent in their practice. Addictions were widespread. Marriage and the family were breaking down. Hope was running low. What they needed was a holy priest, a messenger of Christ who would help them overcome their slavish fears, and surrender with gratitude to the love of God. But they were afraid of the moral demands that faith would make upon them. And so, upon his arrival as the new parish priest in Ars, Fr. Vianney was not made welcome.

Perhaps this fear of moral demands is the greatest fear in society today, a fear that keeps people from surrendering in faith to the Lord. To be sure, there are other forces that hinder faith, things like relativism and skepticism, the lure of materialism and pleasure. But, when pursued, these false ideologies inevitably leave the heart unsettled and the spirit thirsting for more.

When our contemporaries take up the search for something more, false notions about ethical demands may frighten them away. This was a stumbling block for C. S. Lewis. At the time of his religious conversion, he was convinced that he would never be happy again. He said that he knew it was right for him to believe in God, that it was the ethical thing to do, that it was the thing his intellectual searching and his informed conscience were requiring him to do; it was a matter of integrity. But he never guessed that it could lead to happiness. That was God’s surprise!

How did St. John Vianney and how can you and I answer those who struggle with these fears today? Perhaps it’s best to begin by agreeing that the Gospel is, indeed, demanding. Jesus does say, “Unless you take up your cross each day and follow after me, you cannot be my disciple.”

To say, “Be not afraid” is not to say that life here on earth is easy; it is not to deny the mystery of the Cross. Rather, we followers of Christ need not be afraid because, as the Angel tells Mary (Lk 1:37), “Nothing will be impossible with God.” The demands of God are not burdensome, when supported by the rich mercy of God. The law of the Lord leads us away from sin and the disorientation that it always sows; and it lead us to truth and goodness and beauty. It leads us toward full maturity in Christ.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. When we take up our cross and follow him, we find that His promise is true (Mt 11:28-30), “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

When Jesus came walking towards the Apostles on the storm-tossed sea, at first, Peter’s faith was strong enough to overcome his fears. At Jesus’ invitation, “Come”, Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Him. But then, Peter’s faith wavered as he noticed the strength of the wind. He began to pay more attention to the threat of the storm than to the One who controls all storms and indeed all of creation. His fear overshadowed his faith and Peter began to sink.

However, even as he was sinking, Peter found enough faith to cry out, “Lord, save me”; Jesus at once stretched out His hand, caught Peter, and began to walk with him back to the boat. Many years later, perhaps recalling this incident, Peter wrote in his first Epistle (1 Peter 4:12-13), “Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ.”

Are not these words timely for us today, in AD 2009 as we begin this Supreme Convention? They are timely and full of meaning for us Knights of Columbus in particular, as we pledge again our loyalty to the Successor of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI and as we renew our commitment to the vision left to us by Father Michael McGivney. Whatever “trial by fire” the Lord may give us to endure, whatever fears we may have to face, let us trust the words of our Redeemer, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”