It is incredible to think that God has come to this world and has chosen a small group of men from the Galilee region to tell them God's secrets. While it is true that the Lord preached to the multitudes and told them about God, he also had things that he only shared with his closest friends, the twelve apostles.

We have our closest friends to whom we tell our most personal things. We never tell them what we told them in secret and in their ear, they should go out to make it known to the whole world. The case of the Lord is the opposite. The Lord authorizes them, better still obliges his Apostles to communicate to all the secrets that he has entrusted to them.

The many secrets that the Lord entrusted to his apostles could be placed into two groups of secrets: the harmless secrets and the secrets that would put the apostles in trouble. Many things of the mystery of God and the faith would not put the apostles in trouble with the people, especially with the religious and government authorities. Many other things also related to the mystery of God and religion would put the apostles in trouble with all of them.

The Lord tells the apostles not to be afraid. The Lord invites the apostles to trust in the protection of the heavenly Father. This protection is as certain as the protection that God has for the sparrows. The apostles came to understand these words of the Lord well when the Lord left this world, and it was their turn to go out and preach throughout the world.

That courage and total trust in the Lord that the apostles had is what we see in the Acts of the Apostles.  A beautiful piece of the book of the prophet Jeremiah is what the church pairs with this Sunday's gospel. “The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion”, says Jeremiah.

This conviction is what the apostles and all the saints had, especially the martyrs. The Lord continues to reveal his secrets not to the whole world but to a small group. This group is made up of people who listen to the word of God. We are part of this group.

The Lord also sends us to share his secrets with many more people. The Lord also warns us that there may be a group of people who may be upset by the Lord's words. Like the prophet Jeremiah, we are invited to say without a doubt that, “the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion”.

Let us humbly ask the Lord to make us brave and help us to fully trust in his protection.