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P. 179
HOMILIES
22. Homily - Sunday, May 31, 2020
Pentecost Sunday – Year A (Jn 20, 19-23)
Are There Fears in Your Life?
Fears have a way of building walls around us!
As we speak, we are either still in confinement or just about to begin deconfinement. We are
still experiencing being confined to our homes, walled in and living behind closed doors, not
unlike the apostles who also lived a period of confinement behind impassible walls.
Fear, too, can lead to confinement: fear of the future, fear of sickness, fear of failure, fear of
losing a job, fear of not finding a job, fear of rejection and fear of loneliness. We are subject to
many fears.
When the apostles and disciples were locked up in the Upper Room, Jesus Christ had the
power to show himself to them, ignoring physical constraints, passing through walls and
beyond walls: Jesus is not stopped by walls.
He also has the power to overcome our fears and the walls that they build around us, these
walls that we built up ourselves through which he passes to be closer to our heart. What is the
first thing that Jesus does when he draws closer to our heart? What is the first thing that he
did with the apostles? He said to them, “Peace be with you!” He said it twice! “Peace be with
you!”
Just as this peace had the power to dispel the fears of the disciples, it has the power now to
dispel our fears and give us peace. The peace of Jesus Christ has the power to free us from the
prison of fears that can at times hold us captive. This does not mean that we are not allowed
to be afraid. As the saying goes, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but courage is overcoming
fear.” In overcoming the walls of our fears, Jesus Christ comes to give us peace.
In the current time, but really always in the history of humanity, we need the peace of Christ.
Now more than ever, we need it as we are troubled by many fears. Fear is a reality in human
life, such as the fear of not having enough love in our lives or not finding meaning in our life.
Perhaps we are searching for some meaning that we can give to our lives or maybe we cannot
find it because it keeps escaping us.
(cont’d)
Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 179
