Spiritual Corner - Be Not Afraid

We thank God for letting us return to church and attend mass again in person. In the past two years or more, we have been living in distress caused by the pandemic, and our hearts were burdened with lots of worries and fear. Just recently, I have come across a passage which might bring us some encouragement while we are in a state of anxiety and helplessness.

“Be not afraid” is an expression that often appears in the Bible. Perhaps God knows that living is not easy. People nowadays live under heavy stress, facing the catastrophes of climate change, pandemic outbreak, international relations tension, economic depression, escalation of crime rates and keen social competition, and so anxiety becomes inevitable. We all want that we ourselves as well as our loved ones can lead a happy and meaningful life, but we often doubt if this is only an impossible dream. In facing our uneasy mind, Jesus said: Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. When we shoulder the heavy burden of life, Jesus would remind us: truly, we have a Father who loves us dearly. To Him, no matter how old we have grown, what position we are holding, how heavy a load we are shouldering, we are still his children, His little flock. Just imagine what happens when we come before God the Father with our weary mind and body. There, God will accept us totally, and we will not be ashamed of our limitations. There, God the Father would ceaselessly encourage us, bolster our morale. There, we can feel how dearly God the Father loves us, and teaches us how we can make use of His value system to deal with the pressure of life. Jesus said that the Father is pleased to give the kingdom to His children. Indeed, the kingdom is not the utopia that exists in our imagination where there is no problem or pain, the kingdom of heaven is our relationship with God.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what difficulties we encounter in life, God will be with us to face them so that such difficulties will not defeat us, but on the contrary, they will help to sanctify us in their midst.

Your Pastor,
Fr. Thomas Loh