Dear friends,

Letters from Leo’s Sunday Reflection Series are essays grounded in the Mass readings — offering a clear-eyed way to follow Jesus amid today’s political realities, not by retreating from public life or baptizing any ideology, but by letting the Gospel shape our conscience, courage, and compassion.

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Today’s Readings

“So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” — Matthew 10:31

“Fear no one.”

Jesus says it to the Twelve at the start of today’s Gospel, then says it twice more before he finishes. Three times in eight verses he tells frightened men to stop being afraid. He is not unusual in this. No command appears in scripture more often than the command not to be afraid.

Of all the things God says to human beings, this is the one that recurs most.

That repetition is not a stylistic flourish, but a human diagnosis. Here’s what I mean.