Luke 12:7
Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.
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It was a sight that is fun to watch. Glittering lights, towering rides, games and street foods. It was my first time to be in that place. Filipinos call it “karnabal o peryahan” (loosely translated as carnival, but it is far from the real one). The first ride that caught my fancy was the ferris wheel. I immediately asked my father to accompany me, and he readily said yes.
But the fun quickly vanished, and immediately replaced by fear. It was my first time to ride on it, and the first stop saw us hanging at the highest point of the wheel. I was trembling and crying. My father hugged me and told me not to look down, but rather look up to the sky and adore the stars.
I then looked up and adored the stars in the duration of the ride. The fear was not completely gone, but the crying and the trembling was. With my father at my side, I can do anything… but with the sky and stars to watch and behold, I can dispel fear and anything that goes with it.
We live in strange and unsettling times. We face unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, in our policies and in our private lives. The message needs to be taken in and internalized: DO NOT BE AFRAID.
O Lord, as I go through life, I sometimes feel being afraid. The spirit of fear overcomes me. Give me the strength to overcome this spirit of fear for it did not come from You, and rather, You have given us the spirit and the power of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7).
Let us pray +
Almighty Father, help me overcome fear of man and of the unknown. May I look up to you and seek Your mighty name so I may not be afraid of being alone, not to be afraid of being too weak, not to be afraid of not being heard, and not to be afraid for our physical necessities. I know I can, because I have put my total trust in You. For there is nothing to fear but You alone.
Amen +
I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble… fill me with the joy of salvation.
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