Do Not Rehearse Fear; Rehearse Fidelity

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There is something very striking in today’s Gospel. Jesus tells His disciples that there will be moments when they are brought before authorities, questioned, pressured, maybe even threatened. And then He says something almost impossible: “Do not worry about how or what your defence will be.” In other words, do not spend your life rehearsing fear. Do not live every difficult conversation in your head before it happens. Do not imagine every possible rejection, every criticism, every consequence. Jesus says: when the moment comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say.

That is exactly what we see in St. Ignatius of Antioch. He knew where he was going. He knew martyrdom was before him. And yet what is remarkable is not simply that he was brave. It is that he was free. He was not controlled by fear of death, because he had already decided whom he belonged to. That may be the real secret of courage: courage is not becoming fearless; courage is deciding that something, or Someone, is greater than your fear. Ignatius had already settled the most important question of his life: I belong to Christ.

And maybe that is where this Gospel becomes very personal for us. Most of us will never stand before a tribunal because of our faith. But we do face smaller tribunals all the time: a conversation where mentioning our faith feels awkward, a workplace where Christian values are unpopular, a friendship where we are afraid to speak honestly, a family situation where we know what is right but staying silent is easier. In those moments, we often ask, “What will they think of me?” Jesus invites us to ask a different question: “What does faithfulness look like here?”

There is also a beautiful promise in the Gospel: “The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” Notice: at that moment. We often want grace in advance. We want courage on Monday for something happening on Friday. We want God to give us the words before we need them. But grace often arrives when obedience arrives. The Spirit meets us in the moment of surrender. Maybe the reason we feel we do not have enough courage is because God has not asked us to use it yet. When the moment comes, so will the grace.

So perhaps today St. Ignatius and the Gospel leave us with one question: What fear has been making decisions for me? Fear of being misunderstood? Fear of losing approval? Fear of conflict? Fear of suffering? Jesus does not promise that discipleship will always be comfortable. He promises something better: that we will not be alone. The Holy Spirit will be there. And sometimes holiness is simply this: when fear says, “Stay quiet, stay safe, protect yourself,” we answer, “I belong to Christ.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, when fear makes me silent, give me courage. When I worry about what others will think, remind me that I belong to You. Holy Spirit, give me the words I need when the moment comes, and the grace to remain faithful even when it costs me something. Through the prayers of St. Ignatius of Antioch, teach me to love You more than I fear anything else. Amen.

– Homily by Rev. Fr. Patrick Agbeko