You must put aside any fear

I was a 9 year old little girl.  Waiting in lines, moving through crowds and being lifted up by my father to catch a tiny glimpse of the man who we made this journey to see: Pope John Paul II.  That is really all I remember from that day but I knew something important was going on.  He must have been someone quite special to gather that much of a crowd.  I can't say that I remember or even heard anything that he said but it is still an event that I will never forget.  

This morning I was reading some of the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II and I came across this.

"Like Mary, you must put aside any fear, in order to take Christ to the world in whatever you do - in marriage, as single people in the world, as students, as workers, as professional people.  Christ wants to go to many places in the world, and to enter many hearts, through you."                 - Blesses Pope John Paul II, Homily at Central Park, New York, 1995

This was from the mass that I was at!  Even though I didn't hear it, this is what the Pope spoke to me at the mass that I was part of! So I went back and read the passage again.

"you must put aside any fear, in order to take Christ to the world in whatever you do"

Fear

That is what is stopping us.  Fear. I want to share Christ's teachings with everyone I meet.  I want to tell the world of the truth and love of the Lord.  I want to stand up for my faith and my beliefs no matter what the price.  But I am afraid.  I'm afraid of what people will think of me.  I'm afraid of what my family and friends will think.  I'm afraid of loosing my comfortable lifestyle and easy friendships.  I'm afraid of offending someone.  I'm afraid.  This is what is keeping me from bringing Christ to the world.  He sure knew what he was talking about.  

We need to put aside our fear.  We need to remember what Blessed Pope John Paul II has told us many times: "Be not afraid!"  We need to put our trust in the Lord, put aside our fears and bring Christ to the world.  I'm sure Mary had fears beyond our understandings but she pushed them aside and said yes to the Lord and brought us all Christ.  Now it is our turn to push our fears aside and bring Christ to our world.  All we need to do is push the fear aside.

Hear is the full text of his Homily that day.  I will be reading it soon.