Fear of loving, fear of being loved,
Fear of asking for help, fear of giving it.
Fear of speaking, fear of silence.
Fear of being criticized, of not being valued...
Fear of committing ourselves, of being swept up, of losing our authenticity...
Fear of meeting another's eyes... of losing heart...
Fear that one day it will all end...
Who does not recognize one of these fears in themselves?
Who does not see one of these fears in the person standing beside them?
Children do not have or know these fears.
We call ourselves grown, mature, accomplished—yet we are filled with fears that paralyze us, complicate us, keep us from moving toward each other without hesitation.
"Do not be afraid!" I have lost count of how many times Jesus spoke these words when he met with people.
Thank God he did: it means people were afraid then too.
And Jesus says: "I am with you!"
The trouble is, we do not believe it. If we truly believed it, we would have no more fear. Instead, we keep telling each other that we cannot be at peace, that we cannot fully taste the joy of loving one another, because we are complicated and we would rather stay halfway between ourselves—our poor hearts in turmoil—and him, Jesus, who takes our hand and says: "Come. Do not be afraid!"
Children ran to him, but we are not like children.
What if we tried to run too? What if we threw ourselves to our knees at his manger, drawn by his gaze, by his infinite tenderness, so that he could save us and free us from all these fears?
Mariangela, 1978