“Do not be afraid”, God is reminding us all the time .

The words of Jesus are an encouragement not to be deterred in the face of challenge or opposition.

Help me to recognise your supporting presence and not to be afraid for you are with me always.

 

Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Augustine Zhao Rong, priest & companions, martys

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Isaiah 6:1-8

 In the year that King Uzziah died

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.

 They were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Saba­oth. All the earth is filled with his Glory!”

 At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke.  I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”

 Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.   He touched my mouth with it and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”  Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!”

 

Ps 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

The Lord is king, he robed in majesty.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Matthew 10:24-33

 A student is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.   A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.

There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.   What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.

 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.   For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.   As for you, every hair of your head has been counted.   So do not be afraid: you are worth much more than many sparrows.

Whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.  Whoever rejects me before others I will reject before my Father in heaven.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Rushing in Where Angels Fear to Tread

The descriptions of God given by Isaiah and by Jesus cannot be any more different from each other: they look poles apart. For Isaiah, the majesty and holiness of Yahweh are so powerful and intimidating that he can only fall on his feet utterly conscious of his sinfulness. But Jesus presents a “Father” who is so maternal that even he has counted the hair on our head!

How do we reconcile these two images? Of course, they are not contradictory, but two aspects of the same God. He is so holy that no creature on earth can stand its ground before him; yet God is so full of love that we can climb on his lap and pull his beard. Didn’t Alexander Pope sing that “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”?

Pope could easily have been talking of God’s bosom, where angels fear to tread, but we, his foolish children, can barge in.