Reflection for July 9, Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 10:24-33

Gospel: Matthew 10:24-33

(Jesus said to the twelve Apostles) “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!  

“Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.  

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

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Reflection:

The story is told about a dying man who rarely attends Holy Mass and who was very much afraid to die. When his relatives told him that they will call a priest for him to be conferred with the Sacrament of the Anointment of the Sick. He asked them, Am I going to die already?  

To make a long story short, the priest arrived, and he was conferred the sacrament. After the priest left, the dying man told his relatives, now I am prepared to die. From being afraid to not being afraid to die and the reason of it all is the courage that Jesus gave him through the anointment of the sick.  

Are we not afraid to die? Of course we are, but why are we afraid to die? Perhaps the reason is we have not found Jesus yet and surely Jesus is not yet part of our way of life. This is perhaps the primary reason why many of us are afraid to die. However, once Jesus is already part of your way of life you will not anymore be afraid to die.   

When we have Jesus in our life we already have the courage to face anything that may befall us.   We are not anymore afraid to stare at earthly death because we now know that soon after we will be with Jesus in heaven. 

Are you still afraid to die? – Marino J. Dasmarinas