Holy Spirit, help me not to be afraid of ‘them’.

Jeremiah 1:1-10 

Like Jeremiah with the people around him, I discover that ‘others’ can be very harsh with me. Whether family members or co-workers, fellow parishioners or community members, other people do not always appreciate what I am offering, particularly if I am being prompted by the Holy Spirit of God, it seems. Like Jeremiah, I do not appreciate being rejected or sidelined or ridiculed –and begin to doubt that I am of any worth. God reminded Jeremiah –and reminds me today –that ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you... Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you, to deliver you.’ ‘They’ are not a force to be reckoned with; God’s love and his ways of Mercy are designed to be the source and summit of life, the only power worthy of consideration.  Holy Spirit, help me not to be afraid of ‘them’.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. (Psalm 71:1)

I have never succeeded when I have spoken with the faintest suspicion of hardness.
St. Vincent de Paul

Soli gloriam dei .