Saturday – Second Week of Easter

Gospel – John 6:16-21

Be Not Afraid

Praying in Jerusalem

When a flashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away?  Of course not!  You change the batteries!  When a person messes up or finds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside?  Of course not!  You help them change their batteries.  Some need AA – attention and affection.  Some need AAA – attention, affection and acceptance!  Some need C – compassion!  And some need D – direction!  And if they still don’t seem to shine, simply sit with them quietly and share your light!

One of the great joys in my diaconal ministry is working with the youth and training them to be altar servers.  The sheer excitement and energy when they show up for the first session is almost electric that they can’t sit still.  Their enthusiasm is incredible.  But that all tends to change on the day they serve their first Mass.  They get nervous, anxious and stressed out, worried that somehow some way they are going to mess up.  So I either ‘deacon‘ their Mass or, at least, I will sit with them and coach/encourage them as the Mass goes on.  Just having someone there with them, someone to calm their fears, really seems to help.

And isn’t that the case with all of us?  Having someone there to ease our worries and to tell us “don’t be afraid.”  We have all felt the need for our batteries to be recharged or replaced.  And that is what we hear in today’s Gospel.  The Apostles are caught in a wind storm on the Sea of Galilee and they are terrified.  But Jesus appears to them and simple says “It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  We have reflected on those words before and have been reminded that, even in the midst of a dark night of the soul, we are not alone!  Jesus is there with us and we should not be afraid.

But for once, let’s turn it around.  Let’s be aware of the times when we see someone else suffering through a storm of life.  Be Jesus!  Be Christ-like!  Reach out to them, calm their fears.  Be with them and assure them that they are not alone.  Provide them with the batteries they need to recharge!  Be Not Afraid!

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