DISCIPLESHIP – FEARLESSNESS AMIDST TRIALS AND PERSECUTIONS
Introduction
Isaiah (Yahweh is salvation) experienced the holiness of God and was so haunted by it that it was the central message of his prophecies – the most vigorous and beautiful of all the prophetic writings. In the name of God’s holiness he demanded conversion, especially to end the social injustice rampant in his time.
“Do not be afraid.” says Jesus to his disciples three times. Even when persecuted and apparently failing in their mission, like Jesus, their master, they are in God’s hands. God takes care of his own. God’s kingdom cannot be built up without crosses and sacrifices, not without being contested by a world that wants to create its own future.
1 Reading Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:
with two they veiled their faces,
with two they veiled their feet,
and with two they hovered aloft.
They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
Responsorial Psalm 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5
R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
The LORD is king, in splendour robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Alleluia1 Peter 4:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,
for the Spirit of God rests upon you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 10:24-33
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!
“Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”
Commentary:
Those who declare themselves to be disciples of Christ should expect to have a life like that of Christ. If Christ was falsely accused, they too would face false accusations. If Christ was persecuted, they too would be persecuted. But if Christ was raised to life, so too would they be. Christ’s sufferings as well as glory would be their inheritance. They must be delighted that they have become like their Master.
This is evident in the life of the apostles. According to tradition, all the apostles were persecuted, and every one of them, except John, suffered a violent death. All of them walked fearlessly into death, singing hymns and praising God, for they had no fear of those who could only harm the body and not the soul. They knew very well that every hair of their head and drop of their blood were counted, and that their souls were safe in the hands of their Lord (Wis. 3:1). Let us pray for such fearlessness in the face of tribulations in our proclamation of the Gospel
Blessing
Do not be afraid of professing your faith or of living it. Trust in God, who stands behind you. May God strengthen and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!