"Courage! It is I"

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

At some point or another, we all encounter things in life that cause us to be afraid. Whether it’s a sudden unemployment, making a life-altering choice, or a sudden illness, fear is a fact of life. But this current global pandemic has raised our fears to new heights: we read with alarm the uptick of new cases, the ominous warnings of further lockdowns and the economy crashing, we live with the constant anxiety of getting infected or infecting someone else. There’s panic in the air and anxiety in our bones. Staying indoors, hibernating for the rest of the year until we find a cure or vaccine, and getting ourselves tested do not seem to be viable options.

Although fear is a natural, healthy response to danger, how can we resist giving in to panic or allow fear to overwhelm us to the point of paralysis? The answer begins with an old-fashioned word that seems remarkably relevant today: courage. This is what the Lord says to His disciples as they cry out in fear, mistaking Him for a ghost, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

The traditional name we Catholics use to speak of courage is “fortitude.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1808) teaches that “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defence of a just cause.”

One of the greatest myths about courage or fortitude is that it means not feeling afraid. If ‘I were brave and courageous, I wouldn’t feel anxious, panicked or worried,’ we might think.  But fortitude isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the willingness to be present and respond in spite of fear.

It means we have the capacity to see clearly and act prudently during a crisis. It means we have enough wisdom so that we don’t freak out when things go haywire—or, perhaps even more importantly, so that we don’t shut off in denial and pretend everything is okay.

Fortitude or courage, however, is not a licence to be stupid or to act recklessly. For example, in the current pandemic, although there is still a polarising debate about the efficacy of wearing masks and observing social distancing, blatantly choosing to defy public health advisories, is no proof of your faith or even courage. It may actually be evidence of stupidity, pride and stubbornness.

The cardinal human virtue of fortitude flows naturally from the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. When we believe the promises of God (faith), and have confidence not in ourselves but in the strength of Christ (hope), and we are motivated by love (charity), we will find ourselves filled naturally with the virtue of fortitude. This is what we see in St Peter’s initial response when he requested our Lord to grant him the ability to walk on water. But notice what happens when he is no longer anchored in faith to the Lord, when he gives in to despair, that is, he senses that the problem which he is facing is too big even for the Lord to resolve. Peter begins to sink. Like St Peter, cut off from the Lord, we too will sink.

I do not know about the rest of you, but these days I often feel as if we are in the same boat with the disciples and Peter. It seems as if we are in a middle of a storm, there is so much uncertainty, there is so much turbulence. Life seems to be spinning out of control and so many of us are worried about the future, our personal safety and that of our loved ones. It doesn’t help when our country is also in the middle of a political maelstrom. It practically feels like we are in the middle of chaos. Like the disciples, we find ourselves on very unstable grounds, filled with so much worry and uncertainty. Just like Peter, we experience good days and bad days: one moment we are confident and comfortable, and the next moment, we seem to lose our footing and feel like we are slipping and sinking into the deep.

But even in the midst of so much uncertainty and confusion, there is hope. Our Lord assures us, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” As our world seems upended with one crisis followed by another, and we hear a cacophony of voices providing us with ominous predictions of the future, filling us with uncertainty and confusion, there is only one voice which matters. It is our Lord’s, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!”  Trust Him when He says this. Our Lord is there to catch us and raise us up when we fall. He is our hope. He is our salvation. He is the calm in the storm.

Yes, to have courage or fortitude does not mean that we will not experience fear. Yes, at one time or another we will be afraid of sinking, we will be afraid of failing, we will be afraid of dying. But we have courage because we know with certainty that Jesus is there to catch us when we fall, to forgive us when we fail, and He has conquered death by His own death and resurrection. With Him, we can face every storm with faith, with hope, with charity, and with fortitude. “The Lord is my strength and my shield. I trust Him with all my heart.” (Psalm 28:7)