Then I went to a Lancaster County graduation where just about everyone was white. Caucasians looked to be the minority down here. I saw all sots of Hispanics, Asians, Africans at the Magruder graduation and parties. I got insight into this last one at my grandchildren’s graduation. Other ethnic groups are gaining the majority and might take away our privileges. Rogue nations are developing nuclear weapons that could destroy our cities. Dangerous new diseases could result in a world-wide plague. The separation of rich and poor might mean our children might not be able to support their families. Strangers shoot up our children’s schools. All sorts of people are gathering information that bad guys can use to abuse us. All we do in fear just makes matters worse. “Do not be afraid,” “ Do not be afraid,” “Do not be afraid.” “Justice is on our side,” “Justice is on our side,” “Justice is on our side.” “We shall be all right, if we remain united in our cause.” “We shall be all right…” Without electronic amplification, her words were passed from those in the front back through the group. After some police brutality, she spoke to the crowd. It makes me think of a kid who grew up in my parish and is now leading the graduate assistants’ uprising at Berkeley, protesting how our great universities abuse their adjunct professors with unjust conditions and wages. When he uses words such as “covered up,” “spoken in secret,” “whispered in dark of night,” and “those who can kill your body,” he is speaking to people facing martyrdom, people who have taken up their crosses to follow him. Jesus is talking about God’s promise to those facing death. The Gospel message we are to shout from the rooftops is about life and death matters. This passage and the one about not being anxious about tomorrow gave hope as it promised nothing would ever separate them from God’s love. She spoke of the anxiety of not knowing what would happen, of how being made an outsider is akin to death. Later Penny spoke of how the passage brought comfort and courage to her family in the past seven years when Jim was cast out by many for revealing the truth on which a free democratic society depends. So like my hair, I let go and gave up the cancer and all its baggage to God.” She wrote, “Immersed in a moment of crisis, scooping up handfuls of my own hair, Jesus spoke to me again. It gave her strength to hear God was aware of what was happening, to remember he knew the exact number of hairs she was losing. Mary Jo’s Frontline Devotion on Wednesday spoke of how much this passage meant when her hair fell out in clumps with chemotherapy cancer treatment. On the other hand, I, also, heard two lay people nail it last week. That is a pretty insulting way to respond to our loving Savior’s giving his life for us. Just last week I heard a well- known preacher say this meant we should be courteous to other people, such as returning their phone calls. Why would people get so excited about this simple proclamation? Too often the sermons we hear in Church make you wonder. So what is this good news Jesus tells us to shout from the rooftops? What is the Gospel we are to spread? It is important to remember this very basic Christian message: “Do not be afraid. “Did you hear…? Did you hear…? Did you hear? News would travel from rooftop to roof top. The animals or shops were on the first floor, the living quarters on the second, and the place where your family would relax in the cool of the evening was the roof. In Jesus day, the roof was their front porch. That seems terribly slow and limited in present-day society where news goes viral and is spread throughout the entire world with great speed, but it was very effective when I was young. Did you hear.? ”Did you hear…? Did you hear…? Often special news would pass from one porch to the next until it made the rounds of the entire neighborhood. Every house on our street had a front porch where our families would gather to talk after supper. I grew up on Fairmount Avenue in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. So do not be afraid you are of more value than many sparrows. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Matthew 10: 26-31 Have no fear of them for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
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