TAKE HEART
During the Cold War, I was absolutely terrified. When your government sends you a brochure on how to build a bomb shelter, it tends to strike terror in your heart. During those years, I kept waiting for the bombs to drop. Saber rattling between the U.S. and Russia went on all the time. I never told anyone how frightened I was because no one else seemed to be. I was helpless until the day I read these words, which have been attributed to St. Francis DeSales.
Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering, or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations, and say continually: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart has trusted in him and I am helped. He is not only with me, but in me, and I in him.”
When I first read these words everything changed. I hung on to them for dear life. Still do, in fact. I believed that words of such confidence and comfort had to come from someone who knew what I was feeling. St. Francis DeSales was just such a person, who was well known for his gentle compassion and certainly these words reveal it.
Many years ago Franklin Roosevelt told the people of America that the only thing we really needed to fear was fear itself. Those words are still true. When we are afraid, much of our common sense is overwhelmed. We make snap decisions about what might happen, often making things worse.
Jesus knew this was true. So often his first words when meeting people were “Don’t be afraid.” “Why”, you can ask, “would anyone be afraid of Jesus?” Put yourself in the place of someone of that century of that culture, that religion and you meet a person whose has been known to do actual miraculous things. Perhaps you even witnessed one for yourself. If he could raise someone from the dead, like the young man at Nain, then could he not strike someone dead? But then, you would look in his eyes and know that couldn’t happen. While we can’t do that, we have the testimony of those who did.
The woman at the well said there was just something about the man that was compelling. Zaccheus leapt out of the tree and confessed everything just looking at Jesus. Millions of people have formed unbreakable bonds with Jesus. They are all around us. Their testimony is valid. The only way to truly know Jesus is to read the New Testament thoroughly. Read until you understand how Francis could have written those words.
Blessings,
Carol Lemelin OPA
