Refugees entering Macedonia , 2015
Be Not Afraid by Tim Deveney , Precious Blood Volunteers Director
“ While he was still speaking , behold , a bright cloud cast a shadow over them , then from the cloud came a voice that said , ‘ This is my beloved Son , with whom I am well pleased ; listen to him .’ When the disciples heard this , they fell prostrate and were very much afraid . But Jesus came and touched them , saying , ‘ Rise , and do not be afraid .’ And when the disciples raised their eyes , they saw no one else but Jesus alone ” ( Matthew 17:5-8 ).
I remember vividly the big deal my school and church made of our first reconciliation in second grade . I remember my fear of messing up the Act of Contrition we were forced to memorize and having to come up with a list of serious enough sins that would show my confessor I was taking this confessing stuff with enough gravitas , but not bad enough that the priest would think I was a horrible person . That ’ s a fine line on which to balance for a seven year-old .
The part of that service that still sticks with me , besides the tightrope of sin that my seven year-old self was navigating , was the song “ Be Not Afraid .” This is a common enough hymn and the main theme of the song is a phrase used with great regularity in Scripture , including many references in the Old Testament , Gospels , and Epistles . It ’ s almost as if God knows what holds us back !
The disciples in this reading are terrified of the bright cloud and a voice . The disciples have a great deal of fear . I do not blame them . I would be petrified with fear with a voice coming out of a cloud ! The disciples are us . They are always us . In good and bad , they are always us . They cower . They fall to the ground . They lock themselves in a room after Jesus ’ crucifixion and resurrection .
We , like them , prostrate ourselves — not in humility , but in fear . Fear that the call of God will open us up to the sacrifice of everything we are attached to . Fear of being hurt . Fear of changing who we are . Fear of our ideologies being wrong . Fear of being open to a new world beyond us . Fear of losing our livelihoods and the possessions that so often own us . Fear of
6 • The New Wine Press • March 2017