Stop being afraid
afraid
" Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld."
(Rev 1:18).
For the man who meditated and prayed the mysteries of Christ's death and resurrection, there is no need to convince him that behind the words: I was dead and I am alive, there is "the greatest Love" about which Christ told his disciple. And this Love is directed to us. It does not need to be explained that the saying: "I am still alive forever" - means the resurrection of Christ and the hope given to us. Like His death - "the greatest love" is a saving gift and is inseparably connected with our fate. The resurrection is part of our fate and beyond any doubt is our future.
" I hold the keys to death and the abyss, to death and the netherworld." These two negative terms encapsulate all misfortune, any bad adventure that may happen to a man between birth and death. All suffering, all defeats, disappointments, fears are confined to this concept of abyss and death. The abyss may be countless throughout our lives. It is known that today people align the roads perfectly for their physical feet, ride on smooth asphalted highways, use reliable elevators, but the same people can fall into an extremely dangerous abyss of mental weakness, sick imagination, overloaded with consciousness experiences, into the abyss of complexes and neuroses. They become martyrs of the darkness, some stuffy corridors through which their lives lead.
None of us know how many such abysses or chasms there are in our lifeline. Therefore, each person should constantly listen to Christ's admonition: “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld., I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever." “I am Alpha and Omega”, therefore Jesus is the first and the last. He holds this space of human life in his hands. And between the right and left side of Christ is the history of the life not only of individuals, but also of societies and of the entire human family. He has the first and the last words. He will decide about all and has the power to lead out of every abyss, out of every misery, because HE has the keys of death and can also lead out of it. He has the keys of the abyss and has the power to close every abyss - whatever it may be.
Man in the face of the universe is a tiny atom closed in his earthly life, moreover his "today" is such a tiny crumb in the face of the whole history - that it is surprising that he withstands the constant fear of what was yesterday and what may happen again today. And his "today" is also fear-laden before tomorrow. He does not know what will happen, he does not know what can come out of his own or someone else's unpredictability, of his own or someone else's weakness or whim.
Because Christ knows that man cannot cope with this situation on his own, he opens for him the very way out, the way to liberation from fear to peace of heart. This grace of liberation allows man to see and find himself in the space closed between the hands of Christ, on which there are the wounds of the crucifixion. Christ ascribed man to these wounds, and man, when he believes and utters the words of Thomas: my Lord and my God, he himself accepts this imputation. Through the sacred sacramental signs communicating the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, man has the opportunity to continually confirm and strengthen this covenant and gain for himself peace that no one else can give him.
Christ tried to present the above truth to his countrymen in the image of a bird gathering its chicks under its wings. Security wings. "Jerusalem, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!" I wanted and you did not. This evil will is a phenomenon that is difficult to comprehend, because normally a man instinctively longs and looks for such a security system, such wings that would spread like an umbrella under the uncertain sky of our lives. We would then be able to calmly close our eyes and to experience the certainty that there are hands which not only warmly embrace us, but also remove the paralyzing burden of fear from our consciousness.
Depending on the life situation, we can place ourselves in this space on the left side of Christ, which is closer to the heart, is tender, caring, and protective - or closer to the right hand, which shows power, supports in action, rules and directs. In fact, both mean the same thing. Here is the foundation of Christian trust and peace. In the name of this truth, Christ told his disciples: " Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." (cf. Jn 14:27). This gift gives man a wider freedom of maneuver in life and the possibility of taking the necessary maneuver when it comes to the implementation of evangelical attitudes, so that he can approve with expressive, more complete gestures in his current life what is right and just, although perhaps temporarily unfavorable for man.
Because this gesture is sometimes too shy, not unambiguous, sometimes infected with fear, what will come out of it and how it will come back to me, or will it hit me by accident? Christ, of course, does not guarantee that it will not be strike, that it will not come back with a burden or suffering. On the contrary, he states with all openness: "There is no disciple above his teacher." And you know how the Master was treated in the world. But things are still going on, and no one else will end it but Christ. When the time comes, he will close all abysses and chasms and say the last word of victory that he will share with us.
And now, at this moment of our lives, he is saying to us: Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george