Fear of the Lord

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

October 15, 2021, Friday

Readings (Read the full text here)
    Reading I: Rom 4:1-8
    Responsorial Psalm: Ps 32:1b-2, 5, 11
    Gospel: Lk 12:1-7

We fear the Lord, not because we are afraid of punishment but because we love Him in return.

When I was in college, I was invited to a non-denominational Christian Seminar. The speaker evoked in us fear of the Lord. He said that God punishes those who do not believe in Him. To make his point much weightier, he showed us video clips about sin and its punishment in hell and taught us how to avoid it by joining the Baptist Church. It was then clear to us that all he wanted to do was to recruit us by stirring up fear. And so, most of the Catholics who attended the seminar shoved off except 2 who eventually became baptists.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, fear is an "unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger." Fear makes us do something to protect ourselves from the likelihood of pain and suffering. At first glance, we readily see Jesus evoking this kind of fear in our Gospel. He said: "Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one." Our fear of being punished, of being cast into Gehenna, forces us to repent and obey God. This is our normal tendency to avoid impending pain and suffering.

However, Jesus does not want us to have faith based on this kind of fear. After assuring His disciples that nothing escapes the notice of God, no matter how insignificant it may be, like cheap sparrows or the number of our hair strands, He said to them, "Do not be afraid." Jesus said this many times. He assures us that there is nothing to be afraid of because God truly cares everything about us. Instead, the kind of fear we need to have is the fear of being separated from Him whose love, mercy and compassion for us sinners is unconditional and unlimited. This fear of the Lord is a gift of the Holy Spirit given to us when we were baptized and confirmed to help us remain in the grace of God and to enliven our hope that someday we will be with Him in the joy of heaven. We fear the Lord, not because we are afraid of punishment but because we love Him in return.

Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS

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