"...when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear..."
Fear is a powerful thing. It can also be a complex thing with phobias, fear, terror, anxiety, and worry. We may have an extreme irrational aversion to something like heights or spiders. We may have psychologically maladaptive behaviors related to a specific situation, like interpersonal conflict, or deep seated personality traits related to psychological disorders. It may be possible to learn from these types of fear and with natural human resources like counseling or medication to overcome these fears or disorders. If you suffer from anxiety, I do encourage you to seek help. Fr. Adam, Carrie Williamson, or myself can assist you with a referral and support you along the journey.
But not all fear is irrational or considered maladaptive. In fact, it can be understood as an evolutionary adaptation that prepares us to respond in dangerous situations and increases our likelihood, sometimes as an individual and overall as a species, of survival. Instead of incapacitating fear, the energy of fear can be harnessed to act decisively when facing a threat. Courage, or fortitude, is the virtue that moves us from fearful inaction to fearful and faithful action. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
On the first day of the week following the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were rightly afraid and they acted decisively in the face of that fear: they locked the doors. None of them wanted to face the same fate their rabbi had just experienced. They didn't really sign up to die when they started following Jesus or, at least for a few, to die without initiating a revolution to overthrow the Roman occupation. They didn't know what the next step was, but all hoped that it wasn't death.
A lot has been written, including by me, about the witness of the apostles to the risen Christ. That they went from locked in a room to proclaiming the good news to the ends of the earth, even to the point of martyrdom, is strong evidence of the veracity of the resurrection claim. Who would or could sacrifice so much for a lie? But that is only part of the story.
In the midst of their fear and locked in a room, the disciples encounter Jesus raised from the dead. This may have been enough, but he formed them to receive both the mission to become heralds of the good news and the Holy Spirit. Gathered together once again, with Jesus once again gone from their presence, the promised gift of the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples with the Blessed Virgin Mary, to empower them for the mission Jesus had given them, a continuation of the mission he had received from the Father.
They are set free to be who God made them to be and to do what God has called them to do. No small thing like fear of death is going to stop them. They are powerfully committed with courage and fortitude to the mission they have been given. They are freed from fear to love heroically. The danger remains, and perhaps even a bit of the fear, but love of God and of others propels them to be bold witnesses. This is the work of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit continues this work through us. At the end of a homily on Pentecost in 2002, Saint John Paul II offered a prayer. May it become our own:
"...let us also implore the miracle of a new Pentecost for the Church. For the humanity of our time let us ask an abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, enkindle the hearts of your faithful! Help us to spread the fire of your love in the world. Amen!"