In today’s first reading, we read that the great city of Nineveh is about to come to an end; but the whole city repented and so were saved. In the 2^nd reading, St. Paul tells the Corinthians ‘time is running out… for the world in its present form is passing away.’ Then in the gospel, Jesus announces

This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the gospel.

In all these readings, there is a theme that a major change is about to take place. They’re at a turning point. God is going to do something big.

A couple of weeks ago, I went through several days of much stress. I was just beginning to feel overwhelmed with fear and anxiety because of all that is happening in our world and because I believe there’s a real possibility that we are at another major turning point in history, and all of these thoughts were really doing a number on me.

So, I want to talk today about fear. Now some fear is good, rational fear is good; but, most of us who struggle with fear are dealing with irrational fear, fear that is excessive, fear of the unknown, fear of what might happen, fear that comes from being bombarded over and over again with frightening news. And we all know that as Christians we shouldn’t be living in fear, that Jesus came to set us free from fear.

But, how do we do it? It’s very easy to say, but how do we make it real? So, I’m going to share what has helped me.

A few years ago, I went to an Unbound prayer session. Unbound is a prayer model that is designed to help a Christian find freedom in Christ, and Joni and I are going to do a talk on Unbound this Wednesday. Very briefly, the prayer model relies on 5 keys (or 5 steps), the first could come straight from today’s gospel, repent and believe (turn away from sin and evil, turn to Jesus), the 2^nd is forgiveness, the 3^rd is renunciation, where, in the name of Jesus we renounce what I like to call our personal demons, the 4^th is authority and the 5^th is the Father’s blessing, and the whole thing is done in the name of Jesus. Again, we’ll go through all that on Wednesday; but, for now, I’m just going to share a little of my experience.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have always struggled with fear. To me, to be free of fear would be a blessing beyond imagination. So, I went to my first Unbound session hoping to be free of fear. During the session, other things came up as well; but here’s the part that sold me on Unbound. You have to understand that whenever I speak in front of people, there is anxiety. It used to be really bad, but it’s always there. I went to the Unbound session on a Saturday, the following day I served as deacon at Mass. This was when I was at St. Pius. When I went to proclaim the gospel, I felt absolutely no anxiety – there wasn’t a trace. I remember actually looking around and wondering where is that old friend of mine. It was completely gone. That complete freedom hasn’t lasted, and since then, I’ve learned more about how to stay free; but that experience was huge for me. For me, it made the gospel real.

So, last weekend, after feeling really stressed, I asked Joni if she would do an Unbound prayer session with me and of course, she agreed. Now, I already had an idea of things that I would need to renounce. Of course, fear and anxiety; but I also realized that part of my problem was because of my desire for self-sufficiency, to be in control. All my life I have been self-reliant. If I needed to do something, I figured out how to do it or asked someone; but, then did it myself. That’s how I’ve lived most of my life. And I was getting overwhelmed with the reality that the things going on in the world were way beyond my ability to control.

So, I go into the Unbound prayer session with these things as a starting point, and then we just began talking and Joni began asking me questions. You see in Unbound; the prayer leader is trying to help the person name those things that are blocking the life of Christ in the person. It could be lies about ourselves or God that we’ve accepted, it could be a habitual sin or unforgiveness or these spirits, like fear or self-sufficiency or pride – things that have taken a certain hold on us that in the name of Jesus we want to get rid of.

So, as we’re talking other things came out, and the whole time Joni’s writing them down. Then after it felt like I was done, she led me through the renunciations. In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of fear, in the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of self-reliance, in the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of pride and on and on through the list. At the end, since we all have authority over ourselves, in the name of Jesus I command all the lies and the spirits I’ve renounced to leave and go to the foot of the cross. Then Joni said a prayer of blessing over me.

Since then, what I’ve noticed is a strong desire and determination to live in Jesus and in Mary. Instead of living “in the world”, in other words thinking about what’s going on in the world and how it might affect me, worrying about my health and the health of my family, what might happen with my job, should I take the vaccine; I’m much more, living in Jesus – what does Jesus want me to do, how can I live for Jesus in this situation at work, how can I love Joni or Eric more; Jesus, is the vaccine right for me, a thought of someone comes into my head – Jesus, do you want me to pray for the person, or call? You see Unbound prayer can really help set us free; but we need to follow it up with living in Christ, and especially when it comes to being free of fear, we need to choose our thoughts. Don’t let in thoughts that are harmful. As St. Paul says in 2 Cor 10, “we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” So, instead of my thoughts being centered on myself, they are centered on Jesus Christ and pleasing Him. The more we do that, the more we will experience freedom, peace, joy, and all the promises of the gospel.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. Fear doesn’t give us life. Fear robs us of life. We may be surviving; but we’re not living. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. In a way, this pandemic has been a blessing for me because it’s practically forcing me to trust more in Jesus, to live more in Him.

I’m going to close with a prayer for living in Jesus that I just found a couple of days ago, and I think it’s really beautiful. It’s from a Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, and we can pray it to the Father, or to Our Lady.

The Prayer of Mystical Unity

Enclose in my mind Jesus’ thoughts,
so that no other thought may enter into me;
enclose in my eyes Jesus’ eyes,
so that He may never escape my gaze;
enclose in my ears Jesus’ ears,
so that I may always listen to him
and do His Most Holy Will in all things;
enclose my face in Jesus’ face,
so that in looking at him so disfigured for love of me,
I may love him, unite myself to his Passion
and offer him reparation;
enclose my tongue in Jesus’ tongue,
so that I may speak, pray and teach with Jesus’ tongue;
enclose my hands in Jesus’ hands,
so that each movement I make and each work I perform
may derive their [merit and] life from Jesus’ own works and acts.
Enclose my feet in Jesus’ feet, so that each one of my steps
may infuse in other souls strength and zeal
and dispose them for the life of salvation.

God bless you, my friends.