Being sick in hospital for a considerable length of time has taught me a lot about life and what attitudes I ought to be nurturing. In moments of difficulties or sickness all your securities start to disappear and disintegrate little by little. This is a painful procedure but it is also a moment of grace because you start to realize what are the most essential and important elements of life as a believer in Jesus Christ.
The first thing that I quickly realized is that every day is a gift and we need to live every moment of each day with this kind of attitude. I cannot take life for granted any more. Nor am I prepared to waste any day that God has given me by quarrelling or by living in a manner that is negative or abusive to me and to others. I have become very aware that as soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I start to praise and thank God for this opportunity to continue His work and to develop the gifts and the potential that He has given me by acknowledging His presence within me. This is pretty much what I pray. “God my Father, I thank you for this day. I thank you for giving me this day as a gift. May I be your witness to whoever I meet today. May I be a source of your blessing to all the people who I encounter. Make me sensitive to the needs and to the aches of those that I come in contact with so that I may be used by you to bring your healing, your comfort and your life giving touch to them. Bless whatever I say and do today. Continue to heal my heart from any prejudices and attitudes that do not manifest your presence. Instead touch me through the power of the Holy Spirit so that whenever people meet me, they will also realize that you are present too.”
Having said this, it does not mean that we do not get scared or afraid during difficult moments. Fear when we are surrounded by uncertainty is a normal human condition. It depends with what kind of attitude we face these difficult moments. Our faith in Jesus Christ helps us to gradually build within our deepest being a victorious mentality. We know, because of our faith, that at the end there is a life with our God. This instills hope that enables us to face what we need to face knowing that Jesus Christ is always with us. This is the essence of the message of the second reading of today taken from the second letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the people of Thessalonica, a city in Greece. “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope”. (2 Thess. 16:3) This hope gives us the necessary courage to keep moving forward especially when surrounded by difficulties and anxieties.
How do we explain courage? Courage is not an impulse which pushes someone to do something daring without fully reflecting on the consequences. The courage that develops through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ implies that we still go through with what we need to do while fully recognizing clearly the consequences of our actions. Being courageous as a gift of the Holy Spirit does not mean that we do not become afraid because of the implications of what our decision or course of action implies. It means being afraid and overcoming that fear. It means carrying on with what we need to face or do in spite of being afraid knowing deep down in our hearts that we are not alone. This God is present within us. Wherever I am or in whatever situation I find myself in, there is also my God enabling, encouraging and guiding me.
Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa spent twenty four years in prison because he desired deeply to work for a just system of government in his country. It is not difficult to imagine the hardship and the challenges that he and the other prisoners had to contend with during all these years of imprisonment. In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela says, “I learned the meaning of courage from my comrades in the struggle. Time and time again, I have seen men and women show a strength and a resilience that defies the imagination. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
This good news as exemplified by Jesus Christ needs to be constantly proclaimed to every person in the world. Everybody needs to hear that as people created by God, we can face whatever difficulties come our way because our God is with us (Emmanuel). Moreover, God created us in such a way that we are not destined to live in this world for ever, but to live with Him for ever. The amazing truth is that we become more powerful witnesses of the presence of our God the more we have first experienced His living presence within us in the moments of joy and especially in the moments of anxiety and fear. Indeed, with Jesus our Cross, becomes our strength. “I am most happy then to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. I am content with weakness insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong”. (2 Cor 12:9b-10)
God Bless.
