Second Sunday of Easter

Have you ever considered how debilitating intense fear is?  Our brain responds to this type of fear in one of two ways: fight or flight.  That is, attack or run away.  Once this part of the ‘reptilian’ brain ‘takes over’, all higher order functions of the brain close down and we cannot show love, compassion or kindness to others.  It is the antithesis of the Gospel.  What is behind such intense fear?  Who, or what, is so opposed to the Gospel if not Satan?  This is why Jesus so frequently urged his disciples to overcome fear.  Following the resurrection, Jesus’ first words to his followers were once again in this vein when he said, ‘Peace be with you’.  In the near Eastern world, this greeting meant much more than, ‘do not worry’.  The Greek word from the New Testament was similar to the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’.  This was understood as a foretaste of the Kingdom of God where peace, wholeness, reconciliation, justice and love predominate.  These ‘Kingdom’ values drive out timidity, worry and intense fear.  In this season of Easter, we celebrate the fact that sin and death are eternally defeated.  We have nothing to fear.  Let us therefore be bold in proclaiming the Gospel to everyone we come across.