Faith1 is invincible— fear is conquerable.
Faith leads us to life— fear drives us towards death.
1. Faith in God.
Once again, Simon Peter is sinking into troubled waters, for the weakness of Faith.
Pestilence strikes us and fear of death causes our weak Faith to sink into the mire of surrounding tribulation.
We need to focus more on Jesus— rather pestilence, which is around us.
Remember, God is in the city, it cannot fall… God is with us. [Psalm 46:5]
Our God is a God, who saves. [Psalm 68:20]
As in the times of King David, when Epidemic struck the land, he chose to submit himself to the great mercies of God. [2 Sam 24:13-15]
Instead
of trusting our lives to the Mercy of God, we are demonstrating the
weakness of our Faith, by falling prey to the fear of pestilence.
When
hand sanitizer takes precedence over Holy water ( that is Blessed
during Easter, to banish the unclean spirits; to trample the complete
strength of the enemy; to cure every kind of uncleanness and infections)
for safe guarding life, what remains of our faith? What kind of Faith
do we profess?
When a reverential kiss in veneration of Crucified
Christ, is avoided for the fear of contamination, what kind of Holy
reverence do we profess?
Our Faith will count to be of more worth, in the eyes of God, if we stand firm in our Trust in HIM— in these difficult times.
As in the times of Prophet Moses, when people were bitten by fiery serpents, for their disloyalty against Yahweh. [Numbers 21:9]
We need to look with Faith and Hope on the standard of Christ ( who suffered; died and Resurrected for our salvation )
The first Christians sacrificed their lives and saved their Faith in God ( and saved their soul ).
Where is our Faith?— that we are giving in to panic and fear and shrinking from our Christian duties.
Once again, the Shepherd is struck and the sheep are scattered.
We are betraying our Trust in God, in the face of pestilence (in the fear of death ).
The Lord says: "Anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." (Mark 8:35)
Losing
our life for God's sake doesn't necessarily mean yielding to death—
rather, to act prudently in Faith and to put our lives in HIS care ( to
HIS great Mercy ).
Once again, the Disciples cry out in fear: "save us Lord, lest we perish".
And even in these troubled times, we will still hear HIM say: "why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?"
Our God is always with us, to calm all our fears and anxieties.
Not far from our own times, in 1854, when Turin (Italy ) was struck with Cholera epidemic, St. Don Bosco,
along with his oratory boys, demonstrated his heroic Faith, by helping
and serving the abandoned cholera victims— without he or his boys
contracting the fatal disease. And St. Mother Teresa, is another great example for our times— who served the lepers, in her great Trust in God.
Christ has won victory over death and sin.
As
we prepare our hearts in repentance and our trust in God, during this
lent, are we going to let fear become victorious over our weak Faith?
What kind of Easter are we going to celebrate?
Let our Faith in God, become victorious in the Resurrected and Triumphant Christ—and let fear be vanquished from our hearts.
P.S. The Church has certainly not acted Prudently in Faith, in this respect.
Corona virus pandemic has induced fear in many hearts and has scattered their Faith in God.
And many tribulations of such kind might happen in the future.
Are we going to let our Faith suffer in the face of fear?
All these catastrophic events with reference to our Faith in God, allude to Jesus's words:
"But when the Son of man comes, will he find any Faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8).
P.S. I am glad, Bishop Pascal Roland (Belley-Ars, France) is acting Prudently in Faith, on his part, for his Diocese.
