the opposite of faith is fear - 25th sun B

In the gospel of Mark the opposite of faith is fear, not doubt, not disbelief, but fear.  When Jesus for example calmed the storm he asked his disciples, “Why are you afraid?  Have you no faith?”  (fear – faith) To Jairus on the news that his daughter is dead, Jesus said, “do not fear, just have faith.”  (again you have fear – faith) That is how it is in the gospel of Mark – faith is the opposite of fear, and fear is the opposite of faith. 

When Jesus predicted for the second time his passion that he is going to suffer and die in the hands of the Jews, Mark narrated that his disciples did not understand what he was saying but they were afraid to question him.  So what did they do?  They did what you and I would do when we are afraid – salbaranay kaugalingon.  They thought only of themselves even debating among themselves as to who should inherit what.  Kon sports ini, nagbinuaya sila – ang ila lang ginpanumdom nila.  This is the product of fear.

We all have been afraid?  And if you notice when we are afraid we become reactive.  We act on impulse – kadasig, we could not hear or listen to the other anymore and we cannot pause and consider other considerations and arguments.  Our vision also narrows and we could not see other possibilities.  That is why it is very hard to be wise, to be prudent and to be compassionate when we are afraid.

In the next few days our patience will be tested.  We become irritable and quick tempered.  Why?  Because these are occasions that trigger our fears.  We are afraid to fail.  We are afraid to lose face, mahuy-an.  We are afraid that we will leave a bad impression and things will not come out as planned.  We are afraid that others might be judged better than us.  We are afraid that we cannot finish what we started.  We are afraid that things would go wrong.  And so we compete, we compare, we fight as to who is the greatest and best among us.  And not only that – the play can become dirty, the name calling can hit below the belt, the contest can become a venue that draws out the worst in us instead of the best in us.  All these are triggered by fear.

What is Jesus’s invitation for us when we are afraid? 

Jesus wants us to see as God sees and not as the world sees.  The world wants us to believe that we are number one, that we are the best and to be so we need to outdo one another in our abilities, that we should out beat each other even in our uniforms and even in the sponsors of our merienda – mas nami amon ya.  In Jesus we are invited to see greatness not in accomplishments and successes but through humility, in our willingness to forgive, in our graciousness in accepting defeat, in being happy for others.  In Jesus we are invited to be great not by collecting powerful friends but by welcoming the children and the weak.  In Jesus we are invited to be first not by accumulating trophies and awards and basking in honor and human affirmations.  Rather we are invited to be first in our sacrifice for others, in humbly deferring to others, and in seeking their good above our own.  We should work for excellence, yes.  But it should be an excellence in virtue, it should be outdoing each other in showing generosity, respect and kindness, it should be competing in love and service.