Gospel: Mk 3:7-12
Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that he was doing.
Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, to prevent the people from crushing him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing toward him to touch him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw him, they would fall down before him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” But he warned them sternly not to tell anyone who he was.
Reflections
IN GOD I TRUST: I SHALL NOT FEAR
The refrain of the responsorial Psalm today is a wonderful consoling phrase. Fear is one of the emotions that shackle our soul. Fear paralyzes us. It prevents us from doing good, from taking a risk, from doing what is right. There are many kinds of fear — physical, psychological, emotional and it ranges from the fear of peoples’ opinion of us to fear of threats to our life and well-being. There are also reasonable as well as unfounded fears, of real fears and imagined fears. Whatever kind it is, it diminishes our inner freedom. So it is important to face our fears and see them for what they are. Facing them will make us realize what is imagined or exaggerated fear. But facing fear will make us also assess the causes of our fears. Freedom from fear does not mean that we will never feel it. Freedom from fear means to correctly assess our fears and to act in spite of our fear for a higher cause. And we have the confidence that God will hold our hands and guide us and make us strong in acting in spite of our fears. Let our constant mantra be: I TRUST IN GOD; I SHALL NOT FEAR.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
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