If you know Jesus; Do not be afraid – Fr. Augustine So

20111014 Friday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Lk 12:1-7)

 My dear brothers and sisters, we know the meaning of benefactor. Yes, a benefactor is a person who gives some form of help to benefit a person, group or organization. In fact the word benefactor comes from Latin bene and factor, bene means good and factor is maker. So, our benefactor is a person who helps to make our monastery better. We have some benefactors who are unknown to us and some who are known. Our benefactors, Rita(자매님) and Paul(아저씨) are leaving here tomorrow morning. I think that they are our old friends and our family who stayed, worked and helped us. And they sincerely prefer our monastic works to their personal gain because their prayer is that our monastery become better. I hope and pray that they, Rita(자매님) and Paul(아저씨) are always happy and their faith is credited as righteousness. It is true that their presence will stay with us for a very long time.

 If you know Jesus; Do not be afraid.

In today’s Gospel our Lord Jesus is constantly concerned for the welfare of his people. We find that his heart and mind were occupied, his every thought was focused on his disciples and his people. What an example he is. Our Lord Jesus is fully devoted to the welfare of his people. We are truly God’s people and his disciples, if so, he is concerned for us.

And Jesus said: “Do not be afraid.” He commands us to not be afraid. Nonetheless, we feel afraid anyway. We can’t just turn fear off as if we had control of it. Rather, fear turns us off. It seems bigger than us.

We pray and sing that although we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil for He is with us. And “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s Refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”

We remember that He promised to be with us always, even “until the end of the world.” and then “Do not be afraid.”