Seminarians a sign of courage to the faithful
Published: December 20, 2018
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Dec. 15.
All of us are afraid of something — it is simply the human condition. What do you fear? Spiders, snakes, failure, displeasing others?
The biggest fear that I see plaguing our youth these days is fear of making a commitment. Courage is when we confront our fears and trust in God enough to risk doing what he asks of us — confident that God will steer us in the right direction. Anything less is cowardice and a failure to trust in God’s providence, protection and help.
The reason we light a pink candle on this Third Sunday of Advent is that we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel of our fears, as we see in today’s Scriptures.
In our first reading Zephaniah proclaims that once “the Lord is in [our] midst, [we will] have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem, ‘Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty Savior …’”
In our Gospel John the Baptist speaks words intended to encourage the faithful and put the fear of God into those who are not: “What should [we] do?” He says: Share with the poor, stop exploiting others, speak the truth and be
Article source: https://www.arkansas-catholic.org/columns/column/5884/Seminarians-a-sign-of-courage-to-the-faithful