How To Eliminate Fear

Fear is a strange thing. Our fears affect our every day lives. We fear embarrassment and so we exaggerate or lie in order to avoid being embarrassed. In fear of angering a friend, sometimes we fail to give him/her the advice that we know he/she needs. We fear being criticized, and so we are hesitant to present our ideas to others. In extreme cases, people have such great fear that they take their own lives.

No one wants to live a life of fear. This week's Gospel speaks of fear and how to overcome it. Would you like to know how to overcome fear? Read this brief gospel.

Gospel

Mk 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
"Let us cross to the other side."
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!"
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?"
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"


The disciples were lifetime fishermen. A squall came up that was so violent that the disciples were TERRIFIED. This squall, which was violent enough to TERRIFY professional fishermen, must have been pretty serious. When they awoke Jesus, he sad to them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?". In these few words, Jesus suggests that if they DID have faith, they would not be terrified.


Jesus says here that fear comes from lack of faith. How does lack of faith make us afraid? Why don't we have faith? How do we get faith and how do we hold on to it? Before we answer these questions, we must see what/who controls everything.


The Power of God


Most people understand the power that water has. For instance, in hurricanes it is flooding (water) that causes most of the deaths. Over 100,000 people were killed in the 2004 Tsunamis in Asia. Yet ironically, water is also necessary for life to be sustained. In the Gospel and in the first reading, God makes it quite clear that he has power over water and in doing so, he communicates to us that it is HE who has power over all things including life and death.


The disciples knew that Jesus was powerful. After all, Jesus had already cured many people at this point in the Gospel of Mark. He had also showed that he had power over demons and even the power to forgive sins. It was a known fact among Jews that only God could forgive sins.1

Doubt

And so, perhaps it was not Jesus' power that they doubted, but rather Jesus' concern for them. After all, the disciples accuse him of not caring when they ask," do you not CARE that we are perishing?" We Christians do the exact same thing today. Terrible things happen including the deaths of our loved ones and because we can't see God, we ask "do you not care Lord? Where is God? (perhaps he is asleep?)"

But our Christian faith tells us that "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company."2 We often doubt God during hard times and wonder just as the disciples wondered about Jesus saying, "is he going to help us?" Our faith replies, "of course God is going to help us! God CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN SPECIFICALLY TO HELP US!"

This is a great of example of how lack of faith creates fear. If we truly believed what our faith professes, namely that God loves us and wants to save us, then there is NOTHING to fear. Our faith assures us that God cares about us. And not only does he care, he has the power to help us. Our faith says that God has power over life and death. That's what he is expressing to both Job and the disciples in this week's readings.

How Lack of Faith Creates Fear

The Catechism says that in faith, we believe EVERYTHING that God has revealed to us.3What has God revealed to us and how does this relate to fear? Let's use the Apostle's Creed as a guide to our faith:

* "For us men and our salvation he came down from heaven"- If we do not believe these words, then we believe that we are alone. Or else we believe that God does not "care" about our salvation. And where does that leave us? It leaves us alone and AFRAID. We must believe our faith and our fear will subside.

* "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead"- Remember how we fear embarrassment and being criticized? Our faith tells us that God will come in glory as our judge. If God is our judge, why the heck should we fear the criticism and judgment of others? We shouldn't! God is our judge, we needn't fear the judgment of men. Our faith in God protects us from this irrational fear.

* "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins". Did you ever notice how everyone hates to see themselves on camera? Most of us are afraid of others seeing us on camera. But even greater than that this fear is the fear that others might find out the terrible things we have done. Would we not be terrified if everyone knew our darkest secrets and sins? Our faith tells us that the only real judge that exists offers the forgiveness of sins. Our faith tells us that our sins can be forgiven. God himself offers us forgiveness of our sins and so again our faith shows us that there is nothing to fear. If we DON'T believe this, we remain afraid.


And so, if our faith (which is a gift from God) wipes away our fears, then why are we still afraid? We are afraid to the extent that we do not believe what our faith professes. Our faith is a gift from God. Just like any gift that a person gives, it can be rejected by the recipient. The reason we are afraid is because we reject our faith which is a gift from God.

As Catholics, we believe that we can sin against our faith. As Paul says in 1st Timothy 1:18-19 "Some, by rejecting conscience, have made a shipwreck of their faith." Each time we sin, we profess to God that WE DO NOT BELIEVE. Again, we reject our faith by sinning. The next time I am about to commit a sin, I should ask myself, "do I really want to do this? My faith gives me courage. While this sin will only bring me fear. I would rather do the right thing and stay close to God, my protector"

There is great news ahead...faith. But,how can we get it?

Faith

Through our baptisms, we have been given faith. We already have it! We are afraid because through sin, we have rejected our faith. The solutions is extremely simple- we must say sorry to God NOW. We must stop sinning now! We will sin again. Every time we do sin, we must say sorry to God and return to him. And therein lies the ultimate solution to fear-remaining with God. Remember that God is all powerful. He loves us. Without him, we are so very AFRAID. We must stick with God. We can stick with him (have him in our boat) by obeying his commandments. In obeying the commandments, we profess WITH OUR ACTIONS that we believe. And what does our faith do? It wipes away fear. Isn't that what we want?

The Catechism offers us practical advice about faith: "To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith." In other words, we can nourish our faith by reading the Bible and the Catechism (which contains the entirety of what Catholics believe). I have to ask myself these questions: "How often do I read the Bible? When is the last time I read the Catechism? Have I ever prayed to God for faith? When was the last time I did that?"

Summary

* Fear rules the lives of MANY people
* Fear is caused by lack of faith
* God loves us and he wants to save us. That's why Jesus came
* Faith comes from God as a gift
* We can either accept or reject this gift of Faith
* Now that we have faith (the key to erasing fear) we must not sin against our faith
* In order to nourish our precious gift of faith, we must read the Bible and the Catechism
* We should ask God to increase our faith


God DOES care about us. In fact, he loves us. Do you believe?



1-Mark 2:7
2-Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 162
3-CCC 150

You Have Been Commanded to Preach!- How to Evangelize- For Mass on Feb. 8th

Have you ever been in a position to evangelize someone? Do you feel comfortable preaching the Gospel? This week, we will discuss how to evangelize and our mission as Catholic Christians. There is commentary following the 2nd Reading.

Reading II
1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.

Obligated to Preach

This week's readings (particularly the 2nd Reading and Gospel) remind us of our mission to preach the Gospel. This week's commentary shall focus on evangelizing or "preaching the gospel". Paul speaks of his "obligation" to preach the gospel in this week's second reading.
Now why does Paul feel "obligated" to preach the Gospel? Is it because he was knocked off of a horse and saw a vision of Jesus? Paul knew the mission of the Church as Jesus expressed it to his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20; "go therefore and make disciples of all nations". So Paul knows Jesus words and his command that every Christian (including you and me) is OBLIGATED to make disciples of all nations. 1st Timothy 2:4 says that God "wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." The truth is required in order to be saved. Truth is something that we must bring to others.


Now why does God want us to make disciples of all nations? Is it because we Catholics belong to a really cool social club and getting more members will make us feel less lonely? Of course not! THe Catechism paragraph 850 tells us that "The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love." In other words, the reason why we should be preaching the gospel is to SHARE!


Any person who has come close to God experiences an incomparable love that is second to nothing/no one! Are we to enjoy that love and keep it to ourselves while others suffer miserably and perhaps even fall into the pit of hell? Of course not! This is the reason why we must preach the gospel. We are meant to share the love with which God has loved us.


Why We Don't Preach the Gospel


A very common reason why we are not preaching the gospel today is that we are afraid. We are afraid that we might upset someone. In fear, I might think "maybe that person won't like me anymore if I make them feel bad or guilty." Well, which is more important, that a soul enter heaven, or for someone to like me? How terribly proud I am that I think being likable is more important than someone's salvation and God's command to share his love with others! Nothing is more important than doing the will of God, not even winning more friends.


In addition to pride and fear, we don't preach the Gospel enough because we sin too much. For instance, how can I possibly share the chastity and purity of Christ with someone when I am in a sexual relationship with my girfriend? How can I speak of God's trustworthiness when I tell lies everday (we incorrectly call them "white" lies)? It is IMPOSSIBLE to preach the gospel effectively while living in mortal sin. It's like trying to give a serious speech while in your underwear. It doesn't work! Let's remember that sin distorts our view of reality, of each other, and of God. Therefore, we cannot preach the Gospel without following God's commandments.


How to Preach the Gospel


Many people fear "preaching the Gospel" because they are not eloquent speakers or they lack scriptural and Catechetical knowledge. It's true that we need to learn more about our faith by reading scripture and Catechism. But we needn't speak at all in order to preach the Gospel. Is it possible to end a relationship with someone without speaking? Of course it is. I could end my relationship with my best friend without a word by stealing from him! I could end my marriage without a word by cheating on my wife. Just the same, I can love and bring people closer to God without a single word. This chart show the effects of loving actions versus sinful actions.



As you can see in this chart, we must obey the commandment of God, which is to love God and each other. Loving God and one another involves ACTION. If we obey God and live as he wishes, we will experience his love, and come to know him. Only then can we share him with others through our actions which will inevitably lead to the salvation of souls. We can also see here that it is impossible to preach the gospel while intentionally committing serious sin.


Practical Tips on Preaching With Words


* stop talking- listening carefully and completely is a way to love people. The desire to speak often stems from pride (I want to prove/explain MYSELF). Saintly people are ALWAYS good listeners because they don't have the desire to be heard, they only have the desire to love
* read the Bible daily and read the Catechism as much as possible
* remember who you are talking to- some people are starving and ready for God. They ask lots of questions. You should answer as many as possible. Other people are very opposed to God, so listening and loving might be the best form of preaching at these times
* pray for at least 30 minutes a day- prayer brings peace and detachment from the world. Often times, we sin because we are attached to things or pleasures. In prayer, we experience the love of God and we experience detachment from the world. We are better preachers when we better pray-ers.
*slow down or stop if you get angry- remember that "the ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of LOVE." It's hard to LOVE when you are angry- so it might be best to take a timeout if you are angry.


In conclusion, we must remember that it is our duty and our command from God to evangelize.


* We musn't let fear of rejection stop us from sharing the Gospel of truth.
* The less we sin, the better evangelizers we will become. We cannot preach effectively while committing serious sins
* We must become better listeners
* We should pray for at least 30 minutes and read the bible every day. We should read the Catechism regularly


God loves us!




Reading 1
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7

Job spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
Alleluia.


Gospel
Mk 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come."
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

What to Fear

This week, we are talking about:

What is sin?
Why are we sinful?
What should we fear?

There is commentary following the gospel, but most of the commentary relates to the 2nd reading.

Reading 1
Jer 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:
“I hear the whisperings of many:
‘Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!’
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.’
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
for he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my children,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!"
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Reading II
Rom 5:12-15

Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.

Gospel
Mt 10:26-33

Jesus said to the Twelve:
“Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Commentary

We all know the story of Adam and Eve. But in the 2nd reading, Paul discusses our first parents so it’s important that we understand what happened.

It’s very important to understand sin because without God letting us know what the problem with sin is , we cannot understand it completely. If we better understand sin as God teaches us, we will take our decisions seriously and do all that we can to avoid sinning. Sin is bad because it is offensive to God. We should stop sinning for the right reason, because it hurts God and it is offensive to him and causes separation between us and God. Below is an easy explanation:

Quitting For the Right Reason

In a very simple analogy, let’s imagine for a moment that I am married. I cheat on my wife. I now have an STD (sexually transmitted disease). So I approach my wife and tell her that I have been cheating on her and now have an STD. I tell my wife that because the STD is causing uncomfortable symptoms, I have decided to quit cheating.

Now how would she react to this incident? She would get mad, sad, and then angry because I don’t’ want to quit cheating on her for the right reason. The worst part of my cheating is not the disease that I caught. The worst part of my cheating is that it HURTS MY WIFE and it HURTS ME! Cheating is offensive to my wife. Just the same, we have to quit sinning for the right reason. We have to understand what sin IS and what we are to do about it. To understand sin, we have to acknowledge that it is an offense against God and that’s why we should be sorry for sin. Natural consequences like STD’s should not be the reason to stop sinning.

Let’s look at Adam and Eve in order to understand better. Adam and Eve were born holy.(CCC 399) But after listening to the serpent, Eve ate the fruit and then Adam did the same.

Lack of Trust

The sin of Adam and Eve was a sin against God. In the first sin, “man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command.” Here we see a clear description of sin and what is at the root - lack of trust. Adam did not trust God who told Adam that if he ate the fruit, he would die. Adam did not believe it. He did not trust the word of his creator.

Another example: God loves me, and he asks that I tell the truth at all times. For example, my wife asks me if I watered the plants while she was out of town. I lie to her because I forgot to water the plants. So, what happens? She finds out the truth on her own. She is sad and understandably upset. She begins to wonder what else I lie to her about. She begins to wonder what sort of man she has married. We start arguing and I start wondering why she loves her plants more than she loves me and I start wondering what sort of woman I have married. As you can see here, sin creates lots of problems and mistrust immediately.

In this example, I know it’s a sin against God to lie. But I thought to myself, “hey God, it’s okay to lie to my wife about the plants because she is not going to find out and it’s really not a big deal. I know you told me to NEVER lie, but I’m not so sure you are right about this. I am going to take matters into my own hands here because I know my wife very well.”

At the heart of EVERY sin is disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.¹ In this example, I would have been better off listening to God and telling the truth. Disobeying God is an offense against God, but I must keep in mind that God wants what’s best for me and my wife. He wants me and my wife to be happy. That’s why he commands me to tell the truth.

We are Christians and we believe in God. When we sin, we say with our actions that WE DO NOT TRUST God. Now that is a terrible statement to make to God and we all know that actions speak louder than words. We should use our actions to praise God, not to curse him.

Sin Goggles

In case you didn’t know, wearing “beer goggles” means you are drunk. The alcohol distorts your senses including your vision. And so, you are wearing “beer goggles”. Sin works in the same way. In Genesis Chapter 3, Adam and Eve sin and their immediate reaction is to hide. Had God done anything to Adam or Eve that they should fear him? Of course not, God was only loving to them both. He was thinking about Adam when he made Eve because he said, “it is not good for the man to be alone.”² Also, God had lovingly given everything to Adam including life and power over all the animals and food and drink.

Yet Adam and Eve were afraid of their loving God after they sinned. They suddenly had a different view of God. That’s why they hid after they had sinned. They had on “sin goggles”. Because of the “sin goggles”, Adam immediately saw Eve in a different way as well. He complained to God, “The woman whom you put here with me- she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” Eve because of the fear and shame that sin brought, also joined in the blame game by pointing out the serpent.

When I sin, I not only become ashamed but I also become afraid. I become afraid of God and afraid of others. I even start to become suspicious of God and his love. I am sure that no sin, not even the smallest, is worth committing.

Original Sin

In the 2nd reading, Paul says that, “through sin, death came to all men.” He is talking about Adam and his sin against God, which resulted in Adam’s eventual death. Yet, “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam.” That means that people continued to be sinful after Adam and they also died. In order to explain what this means, I’d like to use another example:

Someone told me that there was a hidden camera study done a while back. Kids were told to wait in a room. They were also told not to look in a certain area of the room. Every kid in the test would wait for the adult to leave the room and would then look at the one place they were told not to.

And so, our nature is partially corrupted because of the sin of Adam and Eve. We are drawn towards sin. It is important to be aware of our sinful nature. Because of this, we understand our need for salvation. Also, all people are connected to each other. And so, when one of us sins, all of us are hurt. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we suffer. The good news is that because Jesus became human, we are also connected to HIM just as we are connected to Adam. And so we benefit and are saved by Jesus’ death on the cross. In Romans 5:18, Paul says, “just as through one transgression (one sin) condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.”

Fear- Commentary on 1st Reading and Gospel

In the first reading, Jeremiah says, “the Lord is with me……Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!” In the Gospel, Jesus says, “Fear no one.” The readings discuss fear.

And so as a common person, here are some things I fear:

• I’m afraid to lose my job or to fail at school
• I’m afraid my wife/girlfriend will leave me
• I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay the bills
• I’m afraid that my friends will make fun of me
• I’m afraid people will find out the bad things I have done
• I’m afraid of being unwanted
• I’m afraid of dying
• I’m afraid of being ugly

To this Jesus, says “Fear no one.” Getting killed, losing our jobs, losing our boyfriends/girlfriends, or being humiliated, is not what we should fear. Jesus assures us that God is watching and protecting us constantly. “Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” God even keeps a watch over the birds. If God keeps his eyes on birds, he certainly keeps his eyes on us as well, and so we have nothing to fear- except one thing.

We must fear “the one who can destroy both soul and body”. Jesus is talking about the devil. What does the devil want man to do? He wants man to disobey God and to sin. He started with the first man Adam and he wants EVERY man to do the same. He even approached the man Jesus. The devil wants the exact opposite of what God wants. God wants us to “have life and have it more abundantly.”³ The devil wants us to disobey God the same way HE does and the devil knows that sin leads to the death of “both soul and body in Gehenna.”

The good news is that the devil is no match for the creator of the universe so truly we can have confidence in our almighty and loving Lord. However, it is important that we recognize “the broad road which leads to destruction”. ⁴ Although we needn’t fear anything in this world especially our petty concerns, we must recognize that our humanity is corrupted and we are drawn towards sin. We must constantly rely on the Lord for help by asking him to help us. As our lives become holier, we won’t have to rely on ourselves for protection. We will say just as Jeremiah said in the first reading, “the Lord is with me like a mighty champion”. We will grow in confidence that God will protect us from “the power of the wicked.”


The Point

• We must quit sinning for ONE reason. God loves us and we should respond by LOVING him, not by offending him. Sin is bad because it is an offense against God.
• Every sin is a statement to God that WE DO NOT TRUST HIM. We tell God that we know better than he knows.
• Sin immediately causes fear and shame. (is that true for you?) Sin even causes us to be suspicious and distrustful of our God, ourselves, and others as well.
• Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, our nature is corrupted and sinful.
• Because of God’s death on the cross, he paid the price for Adam and Eve’s sin and ours as well.
• We have many fears, but the only thing to fear is sin.

Real Life

Here is a prayer we can share:

Lord,

I am a sinner. Because of my sins, I have spent my life afraid and ashamed. I have been afraid of the future. I have been afraid of what I did yesterday. I have been afraid of what others think of me. I have been afraid of criticism. I need your help Lord. Shelter me, protect me, teach me and forgive me. I know you are with me Lord. You are walking with me. I am confident with you at my side. With you at my side, the devil will tremble and flee. I want to be with you for the rest of eternity. I am not afraid any more. I pray that the rest of my life will be pleasing to you. Stay with me Lord forever….




==============================================Mass Excitement======================







1- CCC 397
2- Genesis 2:18
3- John 10:10
4- Matthew 7:13