Explication
Every day
Biblical commentaries
Gospel (Mt 10, 26-33)
At that time, Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not fear men; nothing is veiled that will not be revealed, nothing is hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, say in the light; what you hear in your ear, proclaim it from the rooftops. Do not fear those who kill the body without being able to kill the soul; Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Now, not a single one falls to the ground without your Father’s will. As for you, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So have no fear: you are worth much more than a multitude of sparrows. Whoever declares himself for me before men, I also will declare myself for him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. »
Other readings: Jer 20, 10-13; Ps 68 (69); Rm 5:12-15
To understand
In full light
This passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew where Jesus sends his disciples on a mission is a stage of maturity, a bit as if the baby birds were ready to fly out of the nest. Jesus came to guide lost men, he embodies the Law which he comes to fulfill to free them. He taught the Beatitudes and revealed that we can be poor, hungry, afflicted but that all our trials will end, that we will see the Kingdom. He taught how to pray, he healed bodily and mental illnesses and above all he comforted the people waiting for a Savior.
The time has come for us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This address is not inscribed in time, it is updated in each era and for each person. This mission of the disciples becomes our mission. Vast program! But Jesus gives us tools. He anticipates our difficulties and among them fear, a bad advisor. Three times he warns: fear nothing. There is more danger in renouncing being a light by submitting to the dictates of a perishable world than in betting on heaven.
Meditate
Fear of not daring enough thanks to God
This fear that Jesus speaks of raises the question of our compromises, of our lukewarmness when we forget what we are: earthly beings inhabited by the celestial. We often give up, we hide our lamp under a bushel so as not to be confronted with criticism. This fear is harmful, it distances us from who we truly are.
There is another type of fear, this healthy one linked to the fear of God. Adam and Eve in Genesis after the sin are the first who fear God upon realizing that they are now naked. This nudity is symbolic of the loss of their light. They will have to work and go through their spiritual night. This fear before the divine majesty signals their awareness of what they have lost. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux said that the fear of God was a crucial spiritual step before that of God’s love for God. The Book of Proverbs proclaims: the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This fear sets us on our way.
We have changed references. It is no longer a question of amassing material goods to reassure ourselves and shine in the eyes of others but of developing our confident faith in the fact that the Father watches over us and even counts each of our hairs. Jesus teaches, no staff, no tunic or spare sandals, no money are needed. This nudity is symbolic of our choices and our priorities. Remain faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life, says the Christ of the Apocalypse. And the Psalm of the day proclaims: seekers of God, may your hearts live! Today, faced with the violence of the world which is causing the death of children in Gaza or women in Iran, it is time to bear witness to this life.
Pray
Christ, Son of the living God, lights our nights, lights the lamp of our consciences so that our eyes open to our spiritual reality.
Lord open our lips to sow the peace that you have given us and testify by praising you for all that we receive each day, our daily bread.
Christ, you who exhort us not to fear the perils of a hateful world, give us the strength to always choose the path of the soul until we become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
