Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sr. Carla Vasconcelos, SNDdeN Matthew 14: 22-33 The fears that paralyze us… or make us move forward (Mt 14:22-33) A few days ago, one of our sisters told me something that troubled me: at a Mass she attended, the priest stated during the homily that being afraid was a sin. That’s right—he said it in a general sense, without providing context or making distinctions. As I read this Sunday’s Gospel, I remembered that incident and thought to myself, “I hope he doesn’t say that again…” This incident occurred right after I had bought a book titled “The Virtue of Fear”. Ironic as it may seem, I felt like gifting it to the priest, but I am still in the early pages and want to read it to the end.Obviously, there is a great difference between feeling fear in the face of a snake and being afraid to speak out against an injustice because doing so would provoke opposition. It seems clear that, in the first case, there is no sin. In the second, however, fear could lead to the sin of omission. There is something more than mere confusion regarding the concept of fear here. […]