In 1978, St. Pope John Paul II was elected to lead the Church as the new Pope, our Holy Father, and his first words to the Church were, “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ.” If we are to live fully a life of faith and be true disciples of Jesus in our world today, we must overcome our fear of proclaiming the gospel. God is constantly and consistently calling us out of the darkness of fear, where we hide our faith and our identity as Christians, and into the light of new life, joy and love that is the hallmark of the Christian life. St. John tells us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” (1Jn 4,18) The call of love invites us to leave our fearful self behind and to draw near to God, placing all of our trust in his love for us. “Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” (2Pt 5,7) “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4,8)

Pope Benedict also took up the theme of being unafraid in his inaugural address to the Church on his election, “Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.”

All of us have a frightened, naked, sinful Adam hiding out in our hearts. All of us hear the whispers of guilt echoing in our heads. It is the terror of the night, the horror of our nightmares that we will stand before the whole world naked and ashamed, exposed, accused and found wanting. Jeremiah the prophet experienced this fear, “I hear the whisperings of many: ‘Terror on every side! Denouce! Let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.” (Jer 20,10) Such fear is indeed terrifying. Such fear paralyzes us and keeps us from moving forward in our lives. It keeps us from taking risks and trying anything great and glorious because we know ourselves as having failed.

There is a desire for holiness in our hearts. We want to be good, to be rewarded, to be acclaimed, to be approved but the fear within us whispers to us the futility of those desires. We pray and work on our spiritual exercises, we do what we can to appear charitable and show our best side but there is always lurking that fear that we will be found out to be a fraud. We know our sinfulness and we know what we have done in the secret recesses of our hearts and there is always that fear that soon everyone else will also know it and we will be exposed to public shame.

Jesus knows our fears. In the context of these debilitating fears Jesus exhorts his apostles, “Fear no one.” (Mt 10,26) If there is anyone to fear, it would be God, who knows all of our secrets but we don’t have to fear him. God already knows what you are trying to keep hidden. God knows and he still loves you. God knows and he hasn’t destroyed you. God does not want to take anything away from you, rather he promises to give us his kingdom. Jeremiah finds his strength in the knowledge that “the Lord is with me,” the one who probes minds and hearts knows me better than I know myself and he is worthy of my trust. Jesus puts it this way, “Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” (Mt 10,30) (for some of us that is simple math) Our hope in the midst of our fears is that Jesus will stand with us in the final hour of judgment and justify us in his love.

“So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt 10,31) In other words, God loves you more than you can ever imagine. So cast out that cowering, sinful Adam and stand with Jesus Christ in your hearts for “how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.” (Rom 5,15) If we stand confidently with him then we can be assured that in the end Jesus will stand with us and say, “He is mine.”