Day 84: Do Not Be Afraid
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I am Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 84. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777.

You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of The Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint Reflections, and beautiful full-page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on.

For today's Lectio Divina, we'll be praying with the first glorious mystery, the resurrection, Matthew 28:1-10. And the emphasis for our Lectio will be, "Do not be afraid." Do not be afraid. Now we'll begin with our Lectio. "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

and behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow and for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men but the angel said to the women do not be afraid for i know that you seek jesus who was crucified he is not here

for he has risen as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, Hail!

And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee. There they will see me." Alright, now for our meditatio, let's go ahead and engage the scripture now after the Sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of week. I love this imagery, the pointing to the dawn. A new day is breaking, the first day of the week.

And then our passage begins with all of the signs of a theophany, the angel, the earthquake, the angel's appearance was like a lightning. And the fruit of this, the reaction of this is fear. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they experience a fear. And what does the angel say? Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Why not? For I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here for he has risen as he said.

and come and see with your own eyes the place where he lay and that he is not there okay and then in obedience to what the angel tells them they depart quickly still as to be expected with fear and great joy i think these are very authentic emotions to be experiencing and then jesus meets them on the way it says hail they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him

Notice this detail. So the right response of the women to fall at his feet in worship, but that they took hold of his feet. Again, we have these details like Jesus was crucified, but he isn't here. Look where he was. And now they come and they touch his feet. These little details point to the authenticity of both the death and resurrection of Jesus. He really died. He really is risen. And then what does Jesus say?

Do not be afraid. And I think what we're getting at here is an initial fruit, a primary foundational fruit of Jesus Christ's resurrection so that we can go about life and encounter all that life has without fear, with confidence, because he who was crucified is risen. Jesus has conquered death. The Father has been faithful in all things. Jesus trusts the Father and not in vain. To trust the Father doesn't mean

that bad things won't happen, even suffering, death, injustice. But trusting the Father, remaining in relationship with the Father, being obedient to the Father does mean that the injustice, the suffering will not have the final word. Therefore, we do not need to be afraid. Okay, so let's return back to our Lectio and really receive this gift that's offered to us in Jesus' resurrection. I'm going to go to the words of the angel. But the angel said to the women,

"Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen." And then we'll jump to the words of Jesus. "Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid.'" So let's go ahead in our meditatio now, like really reflect on our response to these words of the angel and of our Lord. Going back to the words of the angel, "Do not be afraid, he is not here, for he has risen as he said."

what's your response to this and we want to be honest is your heart moved by jesus christ risen from the dead is this a source of hope for you if it doesn't particularly move you if it doesn't particularly bring hope and light into some of your situations go ahead and recognize that and we'll bring that into our time of oratio or time of prayer but i would say like what we really want to receive is a joy at jesus resurrection

Absolutely. But also like a theological hope, like a hope which does not disappoint. Remember, we've gone through the great suffering that Jesus endured, but he is risen. He is risen. As he prayed in the garden, my father, my father, my father. As he prayed on the cross, father, father. Like he does not trust the father in vain. The father did not abandon him. He is risen.

And the surest sign of this, our confidence, our hope, that we never hope in vain, is Jesus Christ risen from the dead. One more time, let us hear the angel speak these words to us. Do not be afraid. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Now to move into our time of oratio, our prayer following, our template. Receive, respond, request, rejoice, receive the good news.

Receive what God is revealing about himself. What is the good news? Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is not here. He is victorious. He is risen. What's the good news? Jesus trusts the Father and not in vain. What's the good news? Death and suffering do not have the final word. But life and Christ and God and his goodness will have the final word and the final victory for all eternity. Now we move to respond. What's our invitation? First, adoration and praise God.

Let's go ahead and adore the risen Lord. The women in the gospel, they fall at his feet. They touch his feet and they worship him. So let's fall at the feet of the risen Lord and worship him. Jesus, you are Lord. You are the author of life. You are the conqueror of death. You are the source of our hope. You are the light of the world, which darkness will never overcome. You, Jesus, risen from the dead, are the source of all of our hope.

Now let's move to an adoration and praise of the Father. Father, we love you for your fidelity and your faithfulness. We adore you, Father. We worship you. I'm going to highlight receiving the grace of hope. Hearing in a way which is efficacious, which is transformative, which is effective, the words of the angel and of Jesus, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Let's go ahead and just sit here.

Bring to the Lord those areas of our life where it's hard to trust, where it's hard not to be afraid, where it's hard to surrender, where maybe it's hard to persevere in hope. It's hard to persevere in relationship with God and dialogue with the Father. Allow the risen Lord to speak into those areas of your life. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid for he is risen. Do not be afraid. Now hear Jesus say, do not be afraid for I am risen. Do not be afraid.

Okay, now request, let's ask for the grace. Lord, we just ask for the grace to receive the fullness of the hope offered to us by the resurrection. We pray for the grace, Lord, in our own personal prayer to come as often as we need and as often as we can in prayer to the empty tomb. This reminder that you who are crucified are risen. Death is conquered and does not have the final word. Injustice does not have the final word. Helps to come again and again to you, Jesus, the risen Lord.

You truly risen. May we receive the hope we long for and desire and need from you, Lord, risen from the dead. May this give us a new hope and a new confidence in all areas of our life. Now we conclude our time of our Oratio with rejoicing. Thank you, Jesus, for this time of prayer. Thank you for the most holy gospels which present to us and make accessible the great mystery, the great gift of your resurrection.

Thank you for this time of prayer and quiet and stillness. Thank you already, Lord, for answering our prayer, for filling us anew with light and hope and confidence and peace. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for this time of prayer. We'll end with our contemplatio by praying one decade of the Most Holy Rosary. I'm going to invite you to really remain here before the risen Lord, asking to receive the fullness of the peace, the confidence, the hope.

that the risen lord has to offer particularly hear these words spoken into all areas of your life i'm going to ask you to present like again these areas of concern of anxiety of stress and allow the lord the risen lord to speak into these areas of your life do not be afraid do not be afraid now with our lady let us pray in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. That concludes our time here of praying Lectio Divina together. Certainly, if you've been able to enter a place of prayer with the Lord, and you're able to continue to keep this prayer going, we would encourage you to do that.

But for today, I just thank you for joining me and praying with me. And I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right, Poco a Poco friends. God bless y'all.