Today, we listened to the homily of our favorite priest. He always has a way of sharing his humanity while leading through the explanation of the Scriptures. Today he told about when he was a child and role played, as all children do. He would pretend he was a fireman and load up his wagon with all the necessary firefighting equipment. Then he would hitch it to his tricycle and ride around the neighborhood making the sound of a siren. He also pretended to be a farmer and fed his pretend animals. And he role played being a priest. He said that he never had any fear when he was pretending to be fireman or a farmer. But, when he was playing as a priest, he would occasionally think about what if Jesus were to appear to him right then and there? What would he do or say? And he would become frightened. As I pondered this, I thought it was likely that there was reality in playing a priest. Even as a child, he knew that Jesus was real and could in fact appear at any time – unlike his pretend farm animals. He likened this fear to that of the apostles in today’s Gospel. But, just like the apostles, as time went on and they knew Jesus more intimately, they became less afraid. Their faith grew as their fear diminished.

I Found God today in a reminder of the peace that Jesus offers to quell my fear.