The readings for today seem to be especially appropriate for how most of us live our lives. The more I read the first reading from Romans and the gospel passage in Luke, the more they resonated. A primary message in both appears to be a lesson about our personal and societal obsessions with fear. If we pay attention to the patterns of our lives, fear seems to play a prominent role as a motivating factor for our thoughts and actions. For example, we go to work each day, in part out of fear that we will not have enough money to pay our bills. We do our best to eat healthy foods and exercise, in part out of fear that our health will decline. We try to get adequate sleep each night, in part out of fear that we will not feel well the next day if we don’t. Each of these actions is good and necessary, and a bit of fear to help motivate us can be a good thing.

But our fears can also drive us to unhealthy thoughts and actions. Sometimes, we are afraid that our performance at work is not enough, so we work longer hours that cut into family time. Sometimes, we are afraid that our health and the way our bodies look do not measure up to social standards, so we try to suppress those fears by obsessing about the foods we eat (or do not eat), the exercises we do, and the supplements we take. And, more often than most of us care to admit, we fear what others are thinking and saying about us based on our looks and performances, and it causes us to project our fears and anxieties onto others in ways that most of us are not conscious of – like the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

But the readings from today offer us an alternative message and an alternative approach to life. Jesus clearly tells us through Luke's reading that we “do not [need to] be afraid of those who kill the body.” The wounds of others can only go so far. The real killing, and the one we need to be afraid of, is actually ourselves. We are the ones who have “the power to cast [ourselves] into Gehenna” with our over-obsessions and anxieties. Our individual and collective fears about not being and doing enough are the real reasons for our anxiety. So, we cover our fears and mask our pain.

But here is the Good News, “God credits righteousness apart from works,” as Paul says in Romans, and we “are worth more than many sparrows,” as Jesus says in Luke. Everything is included in the Kingdom of God – all of our successes and all of our faults. “Even the hairs on your head have been counted.” They are all good, and they all matter – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It is an understatement to say that today’s overarching message of “Do not be afraid” is consoling. And it seems to be as simple as that – Be not afraid. Both Jesus and Paul clearly tell us that God is good, God is forgiving, God isn’t concerned about our looks or performance, and God can be trusted. That truly is Good News!