Dearest Goddaughter,
When I was in 1st grade, my mom took my brothers and I too the park. We played in the pool. It was great fun until my flip flops got stuck in the water and I fell and scraped my knee. I started to bleed but, instead of telling my mom about it (for fear that she might get angry with me), I tried to cover it up my putting sand on the wound. It was not a smart idea. Eventually, my mom noticed the wound and took good care of me. She did not even yell at all.
Fear causes us to do strange things, sometimes even things that we know we should not do. Most of all, we fear the unknown. In today's first reading from the Book of Exodus, we hear that the "new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt." The new king feared the unknown, saying to his subject: "in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country." Out of fear, he did an evil thing, he enslaved the children of Israel.
Through the Gospels, Jesus tells us "do not be afraid," because he has conquered the world. This means that he conquered fear and death. Therefore, when we feel fear creeping up inside us, when fear robs us of our peace and joy, then let us turn to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for strength and courage to overcome of our fears.
Now, one of our greatest fears is the fear of losing the love of a family member or our friend. However, Jesus tell us in today's Gospel that he is most worthy of our love and devotion, even more that we love our own parents and family. This is saying a lot because we do not love anyone more than we love our mom, our dad, our siblings, etc. Yet, as the Commandments of God tell us, we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul. When we love God in that way, God will show us how to love our family (and friends) as He loves them.
Therefore, dearest goddaughter, love the Lord your God above all and He will help you to love your mom, your dad, your brother, and your family even more than you love them now. You will love them as God loves them, with a perfect, self-giving love.
Love,
Bỏ Phúc
P.S. These are the readings for the day: Ex 1:8-14, 22 and Mt 10:34—11:1.
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