“I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. I know him; because I am from him, and he sent me.”

A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.

“Yes, sir,” the boy replied.

“And, do you always say them in the morning, too?” the pastor asked.

“No sir,” the boy replied. “I’m not scared in the daytime.”

In our darkest hours, all of us have lost sleep over fears of what the future might hold. In recent months, some of those fears have become a living nightmare for our nation. Like that little boy, we’re praying  hard for brighter days ahead even as economists predict that this recession could be a protracted one.

At times like this, we can draw comfort from today’s Responsorial Psalm, which reads, “Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but Jehovah delivereth him out of them all.”

To make it through this difficult period, we will also need the kind of courage that Jesus displayed as His “appointed hour” approached. John’s Gospel makes nineteen references to the appointed hour.

The thought of His coming trials and tribulations was never far from Jesus’ mind. He was keenly aware that each day brought Him closer to the cross. Yet, Christ did not let fear hold Him back. He dared to attend The Feast of the Tabernacles where the Jewish leaders and their cohort would be present in large numbers and might seize and kill Him. The feast was a seven-day celebration of the great fall harvest, in which Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There, in accordance with Leviticus 23:33-43, they stayed in temporary dwellings as a reminder of the years they had wandered aimlessly in the wilderness.

As an observant Jew, Jesus went out of His way, traveling from Galilee to Judea, to attend the feast. Midway through the festival, the Lord entered the Temple and began preaching. His boldness took His adversaries by surprise. They tried to have Him arrested; but no one would risk seizing Him in broad daylight in front of all His followers. All His enemies could hurl at Him were epithets.

Jesus did not let fear hold Him back. He had the courage of His convictions. He knew that after the appointed hour He would conquer death and come into His glory. His focus was not on the here and now but on the hereafter.

In our time of trial and tribulation, we can draw the strength and courage we need from Jesus. We can follow His example - - instead of focusing on real or imagined fears, we can ask our selves what good might come out of this situation. Then we can begin working and praying to make those positive outcomes a reality. 

“For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)