Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Fear Nothing And No One

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, 21, 2026

After selecting, appointing, and commissioning his disciples, Jesus says to them, “Fear no one.” I tell you, this is one of the challenging teachings of Jesus. It is up there with his other teachings, such as “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” and “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other as well.” Why is this teaching so challenging? Because we are finite beings and aware of it. Paul Tillich, the great Protestant scholar, once said, “Finitude in awareness is anxiety.” This means that being finite and knowing it generates fear. We are finite and limited, and therefore we live in fear. We are afraid of losing our health. We are afraid of losing our income. We are afraid of so many things and so many people. But now the Lord is saying to us, “Fear no one.” How can we overcome fear? How can I live my life in such a way that fear is not the overriding factor?

Overcoming fear is possible only if we undergo a kind of metanoia. Although in English the word “metanoia” is translated as “conversion,” in reality it means “go beyond the mind you have.” “Meta” means “beyond,” and “nous” means “mind.” Change your way of thinking and seeing. In relation to this gospel passage, this means transitioning from a preoccupation with the body to a preoccupation with the soul. Consider the great St. Pope John Paul II, who began his papacy with the announcement, “Be not afraid,” echoing the words of Jesus we heard today: “Fear no one.” John Paul lived through the Nazis; he lived through the worst of the communist dictatorship in his native country, Poland. He knew the ways and means by which tyrannical leaders frighten people into submission. He grew up with it and lived in the midst of that culture. Yet it is the same John Paul who said at the beginning of his papacy, “Be not afraid.” How did he do that? He had made this transition from being occupied with the body to being occupied with the soul. 

You might say, “Isn’t fear of the Lord one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit?” Yes, it is! What does it mean? It means you are more afraid of not doing God’s will than anything else in the world. If you do God’s will, you will be unpopular. If you do God’s will, you will be hated, despised, and ridiculed. If you do God’s will, you might lose some friendships and even some family members. If you do God’s will, you might lose your job. If you do God’s will, you might be thrown in prison. If I do God’s will, they could kill me. But I don’t care. I am more afraid of not doing God’s will. And it is not because God is mean, wicked, or a tyrant, but because God is good. He is love. He is the ground of my existence. I stand to lose everything if I don’t do God’s will. 

If you make this transition, your entire life changes. 

God bless you!