Daily Thought For March 25, 2014

Facing Fear

     Often, new things make us fearful, including the new things that God brings us, that God asks of us. We are like the apostles in the Gospels: many times we prefer to keep our own certainties, to stand in front of a tomb, thinking of a deceased person, who in the end only lives in historical memory, like the famous people of the past. We are afraid of God's surprises; we are afraid of God's surprises. He always surprises us. 
     We are, perhaps, often tired, disillusioned, sad; we feel the weight of our sins, and we think we cannot achieve things. Let us not withdraw into ourselves; let us not lose confidence; let us not resign ourselves. There is no situation that God cannot change; there is no sin that he cannot forgive if we open ourselves to him. 

     The Spirit of the resurrected Christ drives out fear from the apostles' hearts and impels them to come out of the Cenacle to proclaim the Gospel. Let us also have more courage so as to witness to our faith in the resurrected Christ! We ought not to fear being Christians and living like Christians! We ought to have this courage and go and announce the resurrected Christ, because he is our peace. He has made peace with his love, with his forgiveness, with his mercy. 

from Inspiration from Pope Francis―Jorge Mario Bergoglio pp.57-58