Is 41:13-20 Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab Mt 11:11-15

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

Fear. It is a fundamental human emotion. We all have experienced the anxious thoughts, sweaty palms and increased heart rate. Whether it is the fear of running into an ex, seeing a snake or physical harm, fear is imbedded in us as humans. There is no way to get around it.

Yet where does this fear come from? Obviously some will say from the evolution of the species -- we fear that which will destroy us, that which will let the weaker overcome the strong. And when dealing with bodily harm and the fear of specific animals, that makes sense. But what about the fear of failing a test, losing a job, or encountering someone from our past? How does that fear come about? Why do we worry so much about this life and all that is within it?

Perhaps we allow fear to consume us, just as the Israelites in the first reading did, because we realize we do not have control. And by putting all our efforts towards stopping that loss of control, by allowing the fear of the unknown future consume us, we feel like we are in control. We begin to convince ourselves that we indeed have nothing to fear. Yet despite our efforts to control our own little bubbles of the world, we still remain helpless. We rely too much on fear and not enough on trust.

Trust. It is a difficult thing to come by, but it is the most important aspect to our life, to our relationship with God. In the first reading, God calls to us to trust Him, to let go of our fear and grab on to Him. He calls us to His wonder and power, to all that He is able to do. It is to serve as a reminder to us, a reminder of the authority God has over this world and this life. It is a reminder that in Him, we will find our happiness. When we place every part of ourselves in Him, He cannot help but return all that we have handed over to Him, just as He does in the Eucharist.

Yet how do we go about turning to God, trusting God? We must first let go, let go of this world, let go of our fear and let go of our control. We have to let the trust we have in His power overtake the fear we have in the loss of our control. We have to pray to develop trust and pray for a stronger sense of faith. We must place everything and anything in Him. We must trust Jesus, just as He called Peter to, when we are asked to walk on water and confront our fear.