Crises: Be Not Afraid

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

On one occasion, Our Lord said to the disciples, “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27). And to Peter, after rescuing him, He said, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (cf. Matt. 14:31).

When the angel appeared to Our Lady, he said, "Do not be afraid, Mary” (Luke 1:30). And in the Letter of St. Peter, we're told, "Cast your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” (1 Pet. 5:7).

Fr. Tommy Lane eloquently discusses in his homily how we can learn much from the disciples’ experiences on the Sea of Galilee: “It has been said that we have one crisis every year and a major crisis every decade. Hopefully, during every crisis, or what appears to be a crisis, we grow and mature so that we're better able to cope with the next crisis (cf. Fr. Tommy Lane, Homily, “Growing through Trials like Peter”).

The disciples of Our Lord suffered a crisis when they thought they saw a ghost walking towards them on the lake (Matt. 14:22-33). They didn't cope very well with their crisis; they were terrified and cried out in fear. Peter also endured a crisis when he began to walk on the water and felt the force of the wind and took fright.

It’s in these moments of crisis that Our Lord says, “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27) and “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (cf. Matt. 14:31).

In the first lines of the first chapter of Genesis, it says, “The spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). The spirit of God continues to move over the face of the waters. Often what we see as crisis are just ways of God's transmitting to us deep spiritual messages.

Many years ago, after the World Trade Center collapse, there was a psychiatrist who was interviewed on the Larry King Live show in the United States. This psychiatrist had counseled parents who had lost children, children who’d lost parents, brothers, sisters, or sisters, brothers. And he was asked by the compère, after speaking to all of these people, “Do you have any message for America tonight?” He said, “Yes, my message is for parents, and the message is: take your children to church.”

He didn't say which church, but what he was saying was that when the dust settles, the key factor that helps people to move on in their life when they undergo a certain crisis is belief in the eternal life, belief in God, belief in the immortality of the soul, belief in the passing nature of this world.

Because when you're going from the 142nd floor to the second floor in a couple of seconds, it doesn't matter where you got your MBA, or how much money you have in the bank, or where you live, or what car you drive. The only thing that matters is the state of your soul.

Often God uses specific crisis to form our soul, to grow in our spiritual life, grow in faith and hope, and to realize that God is beside us.

“Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.” Jesus helping the disciples on the Sea of Galilee was not just an event that happened once and in the past. That event is also included in St. Matthew in his Gospel to teach us that Our Lord is with us in the Church—and with us as individuals in a very personal way, in every crisis and trial that we may endure.

Just because we endure a crisis—health, financial, familial, professional, whatever it may be—it doesn't mean that we've been abandoned by God. God is with us especially when our faith is tested.

Those words of Our Lord are words that He addresses to all men and women in every trial and crisis that may happen in their life. When we endure that testing, the important thing is to learn from it and to grow and mature from it.

Imagine the disciples battling against a headwind during the fourth watch of the night, and then seeing Jesus walking towards them on the water. We would not expect them to take fright or cry out in fear. Hopefully, they would have learned before that Our Lord was coming to rescue them during the storm.

Our life is a journey to God, a journey for growth and maturation. There's often more growth and maturation in the valleys than on the mountaintops. And so, if Our Lord sends us a crisis, He wants us to sanctify that crisis.

Recently here in Uganda, we made a visit to a place called Nkokonjeru, which means the place of the white hen. Mother Kevin Kearney is buried there. She was an Irish missionary who came here in 1903 and set up fifteen or so convents, put a school and a clinic beside each one of them. Each one of those clinics and schools grew to be very important institutions in this country. The process of beatification is ongoing.

We visited her grave, a very beautiful place, well worth visiting some time if you get the opportunity. But we also came across a statue of St. Michael. Under the statue, Mother Kevin had inscribed how on one occasion when she was starting her community, she had a number of novices, then the compound was attacked by chiefs and other tribesmen who were accusing Mother Kevin of taking away their future wives and their future children. They wanted their women back.

She sent the novices into the forest to hide, and she prayed ardently to St. Michael the Archangel to protect her from this onslaught that was coming. Eventually, those angry chiefs, with their demands, turned away in peace and went back to where they came from.

She had this statue of St. Michael built with this testimony—how St. Michael the Archangel had been a great solace and help in that moment of trial, a moment of crisis when the religious order she was trying to found was in grave danger.

We can learn a lot from these experiences. These sorts of crisis and trials are opportunities to grow closer to God. Some of the questions we need to ask ourselves in those moments are: ‘What is it that you're trying to say to me, good Lord, during this crisis and this trial? What are you trying to teach me? What is it that you want me to learn?’

Somebody said that when a crisis comes our way, we should milk it for meaning. Those crises in our lives are opportunities to succeed spiritually and really grow closer to Our Lord.

One of the things learned during a crisis is that we cannot do by our own strength what we can do with the grace of God. That's a little bit what that psychiatrist was saying on the Larry King Live show: “take your children to church.” Help them to learn these great messages, these great lessons which will stand to them later in life.

It's interesting how in the Gospel, we see Peter failing the tests again and again. From what we see of him when he fails these tests that Our Lord places before him, you would never imagine that he would be represented by statues in Rome in front of St. Peter's [Basilica] in St. Peter's Square. But during all his trials, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter grew.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we see that Peter had matured and grown enormously. Then when we read the Acts of the Apostles, we can understand why Peter is represented by statues in Rome.

In the Acts, we see Peter relying on the Lord and the Lord working powerfully through him. In the Gospels, Peter speaks first and thinks afterwards. But in the Acts, Peter relies on the Lord and allows the Lord to speak through him.

In the courtyard of the high priest, Peter denied the Lord three times (Matt. 26:69-75). But in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is sent to prison twice for preaching in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:3, 5:18).

In the Gospel, Peter did not want Jesus to go to Jerusalem to endure His Passion (Matt. 16:22). But in the Acts, Peter and the other apostles were glad to have the honor of suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

In Acts 5:15, we see that the sick even hoped that Peter's shadow would fall on them. And so, Peter has become monumental. If Peter did not endure all the trials we see him experiencing, he would never have grown to become the great person he became.

Mothers and fathers who may experience crises in their family—the loss of a loved one, some major challenge, or disunity, or maybe it seems the ground under you is cracking—these are all divine invitations to grow to be a great person of faith, of hope, to learn what those virtues are, and God may want you to give that example to your children so that they can grow to be a person of great faith and of hope and hopefully spread that message around them.

We can ask Our Lord that we might trust Him in a special way during our crisis. We know that He gives us special grace in those moments to do what we cannot do by our own strength. That’s why He says, “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.” “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

A man came to me once in another country. He had missed his promotion; his career path had taken a left turn. He was very down. I suggested to him to go and read the chapter on pessimism in The Forge, which is the chapter of the writings of St. Josemaría that I've recommended most in the last forty-plus years as a priest.

He went away and came back the following week and said he had read that chapter. “But there was one line,” he said, “that kept me going all week. It's when Our Lord says, ‘Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid’” (Matt. 14:27).

Pope Francis says that in our life's worst moments, we should never forget that Jesus is beside us. “He's beside us to lift us up” and to begin again. “He's there to help us, to protect us, so we shouldn't lose the certainty.

Pope Francis said that the act of self-examination prevents us from becoming “accustomed to the darkness and no longer knowing how to distinguish between good and evil.” Each of us, he said, should reflect on this within ourselves and talk to Our Lord about it today (Pope Francis, General Audience, January 3, 2024).

He said, “The spiritual life of the Christian is not peaceful, linear, and without challenges; on the contrary, Christian life demands a constant battle” (ibid.)

You could say, in some ways we should expect the crisis or the trials. We may not like them, we may not love them. Yet we know that this is God speaking to us.

“The saints were not men and women who were spared temptation, but rather people who are well aware of the fact that in life, the seductions of evil appear repeatedly, to be unmasked and rejected” (ibid.).

Our Lord is always our safeguard against the difficulties and temptations that we may have to undergo. We win every battle with Him at our side. As long as we stay close to our weekly sacramental Confession and our daily Holy Communion, we have all the means in our plan of life also.

The whole history of the Incarnation opens with those words, “Do not be afraid, Mary” (Luke 1:30). And the angel of the Lord said also to Joseph, “Do not be afraid, Joseph, son of David…” (Matt. 1:20). And again to the shepherds, the angel repeats, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10).

This beginning of God's coming into the world marks a style proper to Our Lord's presence among men.

Later on, in St. Matthew, when there arose that great storm on the sea and the boat was being swamped by the waves, they wake Our Lord: “Does it not concern you that we are perishing?” (Matt. 8:24, Mark 4:38). It was the evening of a day in which Our Lord had talked about the parables of the kingdom of heaven.

We're told that Our Lord was tired out after hours of preaching, and He was asleep in the boat. It's a great image for us to remember. Very often Our Lord is asleep in the boat. Our Lord did not suffer from insomnia.

There was a great storm brewing. The storm must have been tremendous because the apostles were accustomed to the sea. But they saw themselves in danger. And so, they cried out, ‘Lord, save us, we're perishing” (Matt. 8:25). ‘We're in the midst of this great crisis and you're fast asleep here in the boat.’

At the beginning, the apostles might have understood why Our Lord was asleep. He must have been very tired, not to have been awakened by the storm. They must have done everything in their power to avert the danger, furling the sails, rowing hard, bailing out the water.

But gradually the storm began to get the better of them. They were in imminent danger of sinking. The crisis was not a momentary affair. It lasted quite a few hours.

Then, overcome with fear, they turned to Our Lord as their one and only recourse. That's exactly what Our Lord wanted—to let them see that there was no human way of coming out of this crisis. He wanted them to turn to Him.

They went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord, we are perishing.” And He said, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” (cf. Matt. 8:25-26).

It’s true our faith may be small, and we doubt that the storms will pass. Very often we might allow ourselves to be discouraged by circumstances, sickness, or work, or reverses of fortune, or opposition to us in our surroundings, or all sorts of difficulties that we might have to undergo.

Fear is a phenomenon which covers almost every aspect of life. It's often the result of ignorance or of selfishness stemming from an excessive concern for oneself or anxiety over things that will never happen.

I saw an interesting movie recently. It's called “Cabrini.” It's the story of St. Mother Cabrini, starting off her social work in New York a century or so ago, facing all sorts of trials and difficulties. It’s very formative, very educational, very good movie for families to see, and other people who are trying to follow a Christian life, to see the trials that the saints had to endure. It's how they went forward with faith.

Fear often stems from the awareness that the security of our life is based on very weak foundations. We can forget the essential truth that Christ is our constant security. That doesn't mean that we're insensitive to events, but that we should have more confidence in using the human means at our disposal.

We must never forget that to be close to Jesus, even when He appears to be asleep, is to be safe. When we are confused and going through unpleasant times, Jesus does not forget us. St. Teresa of Ávila said, “He never fails his friends” (Teresa of Ávila, Life).

The awareness that we are children of God can be very powerful, can lead us to have great confidence in Him. He will never come too late to rescue us. Even when all seems lost, our Father God will always be there at the right time, although it may be in secret and in mysterious ways.

Complete confidence in God, while at the same time using all the human means available, gives the Christian great fortitude and a special feeling of peace when he's up against the most painful events and circumstances.

St. Josemaría says in The Way, Point 730, “If you don't abandon him, he will not abandon you.” And we tell Him in our prayer that we do not want to leave Him. Together with Him, every battle is a victory, though at first sight it might seem a defeat.

In Friends of God, Point 92, he says, “At the very moment when everything seems to be collapsing before our eyes, we realize that quite the opposite is true, ‘because you, Lord, are my strength’ (Psalm 42). If God is dwelling in our soul, everything else, no matter how important it may seem, is accidental and transitory, whereas we, in God, stand permanent and firm.”

This is the medicine to purge from our lives all fears, tensions, and anxieties. St. Paul comforted the first Christians in Rome, who faced a panorama of great human difficulties, with the words, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave himself up for all, will he not also give us all things with him? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:31-32, 35,37).

He continues in his Letter to the Romans, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

By vocation a Christian is a person dedicated to God, and one who has accepted all that may happen to him as being permitted by Him.

On another occasion, Our Lord taught the people around Him about the love and care that God has for every creature. His listeners were simple and honest people who gave praise to the majesty of God, but who lacked that special confidence of children in God the Father.

It may have been that just as He was talking to them, a flock of sparrows came around, pecking about for what they could pick up. But who bothers about them? Maybe the housewives of the village might sometimes buy some of those sparrows for a few pennies to flavor their ordinary meals. Those sparrows were within reach of the most modest purse. They were of little value.

Our Lord would indicate to them with a gesture while saying to His audience, “Not one of these sparrows is forgotten before God.” God knows everything. “Not one of these falls to the ground without your Father knowing it.” And Our Lord goes on to give us confidence. “Fear not, you are worth more than a host of sparrows” (Matt. 10: 29-31).

We are not creatures of the moment, but His children forever. How could He not take an interest in our plans? We need not fear because Our God has given us life and He has given it to us forever.

In St. Luke, He says, "To you, my friends, I tell you, do not fear” (Luke 8:50). St. Thomas Aquinas says, “Every man, no matter who he is, is God's friend and should have great confidence in being freed by him from any type of affliction. … And as God helps his servants in a special way, he who serves God should live in great peace” (Thomas Aquinas, Exp Simb Apost. 5).

There is only one condition: to be friends of God and to live as His children. We know that “all things work together unto good for those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).

St. Josemaría says, “Take rest in your divine filiation. God is a father of tenderness, of infinite love” (Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 150).

St. Peter in his Letter says, "Cast your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Our divine filiation shouldn't be considered as something just up in the clouds. It doesn't mean that God simply treats us as a father and expects us to treat Him as sons. No, through the indwelling, sanctifying power of God, the Christian is a real child of God.

This is such a profound reality that it affects man's very being, to such an extent that St. Thomas declares that through it, “man is made into a new being” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 1, 2, Question 110).

The Catechism talks about the new creation that we get with grace in our soul (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Point 1999). That awareness of being children of God is the foundation for the freedom, security, and happiness of the children of God.

In it man finds the protection that he needs and finds that fatherly warmth and certainty in the future which enables him to abandon himself without worrying about the unknown things that tomorrow may bring. It gives him the conviction that behind all the hazards of life, there always lies a very good reason. As we're told in St. Paul to the Romans, “We know that in everything God works for the good” (Rom. 8:28).

Even our mistakes and our wanderings from the right path, always end up well. St. Augustine says, “for God arranges absolutely everything to his own advantage” (St. Augustine, De corresp et gracia).

We can turn to Our Lady—to her, whom we contemplate close to her Son. She will always be our teacher. Our Lady will always teach us how to function as children of God even in the most difficult circumstances.

Mary, may you help us in all the trials and crisis of our life. May we come to a deeper realization that you are truly Our Mother, that we can turn to you. “Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided” (Prayer, The Memorare).

May we experience those words in a very concrete way with your maternal help in all the difficulties of our life.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

MVF