WE have to know when to be afraid and
when not. We have to
distinguish between a good fear and a bad fear, a healthy one and a
sick one. We need to know how to handle and deal with our fears that
are unavoidable in our life.
Fear is an emotion that we need to educate also. It just
cannot be on its own, guided only by our spontaneous judgments and
reactions, and appearing when it’s not supposed to, and not appearing
when it’s supposed to. It has to be grounded and oriented properly,
expressing the sublimity of our dignity as persons and children of
God.
Let’s remember that among the gifts of the Holy Spirit is
the fear of the Lord. It’s the good and healthy fear of a child who is
afraid to offend his father. It’s a filial fear, not a servile one.
It’s one that, instead of being tempted to run away from God, would
rather motivate one to get closer to him. It’s the fear of losing God,
even if we may have offended him and have to do something to atone and
repair.
It’s the fear that we should foster, especially these days
when we see a lot of people who are not afraid anymore to offend God.
Though to be fair, we can also say that many do not fear God anymore
because in the first place they don’t know him. No one fears what he
doesn’t know.
Look at little children. They have to be watched closely
because in their carefree spirit of playing and running around, they
do not know the many dangers that can befall them. In a sense, they
have no fear, which is why we have to watch them closely.
There are, of course, those who do not fear God because
they don’t believe in him. This is reflected in one of the psalms:
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God above.’” (52)
Lastly, there are those who lose the fear of the Lord
because they think they can escape or hide from him. It’s kind of a
funny predicament to be in, but actually many fall under this
category. For sure, it’s the devil’s work, supported by one’s
weaknesses and self-inflicted delusion.
We have to contend with these possibilities and wage a
battle of love and peace, of truth and charity, with a lot of patience
to boot. Prayers, heroic sacrifices are definitely needed, but
concrete, doable plans on how to tackle these problems should also be
made.
We have to avoid pursuing this course with bitterness.
Instead, we have to do it with utmost delicacy, bothering ourselves as
much as possible to be correct politically, socially, humanly, without
compromising the truth
But there are also occasions when we should lose our fear
too. In the gospel, there are many instances when Christ would tell
his disciples: “Do not be afraid.” Those were when the greatness of
the spiritual and supernatural character and power of Christ was made
manifest.
Or, said in another way, when the limitations of our
nature could not grapple with the transcendence of the divine, when
our faith could not yet get a safe footing before certain mysteries.
That’s what happened, for example, when the apostles were
tossed by a rough, stormy sea in a boat with Christ simply sleeping.
Or when the disciples saw Christ walking on the water. They were
scared. They thought they were seeing a ghost.
We have to learn to lose our fear in these cases, allowing
our faith to make that leap in the dark that is integral to it. That
is the secret. Many times Christ had to castigate his disciples for
their lack of faith. “O man of little faith,” he would repeat often.
Instead of fear, what we would have would be awe when we
have our faith alive and vibrant. Though it may have some freezing
effect, awe actually attaches us with God. Not so with fear. Fear
makes us to run away from God.
We have to little by little be accustomed to the
mysterious and awesome ways of God. To be sure, we will never feel
totally at home with his inscrutable ways. He will always manage to
pull some surprises. But, yes, to a certain degree we can get
acquainted with them such that we would be left in awe instead of
falling into fear.
It’s an awe that would not deter us but rather would
launch us into a generous and even heroic correspondence to his love
and goodness.
distinguish between a good fear and a bad fear, a healthy one and a
sick one. We need to know how to handle and deal with our fears that
are unavoidable in our life.
Fear is an emotion that we need to educate also. It just
cannot be on its own, guided only by our spontaneous judgments and
reactions, and appearing when it’s not supposed to, and not appearing
when it’s supposed to. It has to be grounded and oriented properly,
expressing the sublimity of our dignity as persons and children of
God.
Let’s remember that among the gifts of the Holy Spirit is
the fear of the Lord. It’s the good and healthy fear of a child who is
afraid to offend his father. It’s a filial fear, not a servile one.
It’s one that, instead of being tempted to run away from God, would
rather motivate one to get closer to him. It’s the fear of losing God,
even if we may have offended him and have to do something to atone and
repair.
It’s the fear that we should foster, especially these days
when we see a lot of people who are not afraid anymore to offend God.
Though to be fair, we can also say that many do not fear God anymore
because in the first place they don’t know him. No one fears what he
doesn’t know.
Look at little children. They have to be watched closely
because in their carefree spirit of playing and running around, they
do not know the many dangers that can befall them. In a sense, they
have no fear, which is why we have to watch them closely.
There are, of course, those who do not fear God because
they don’t believe in him. This is reflected in one of the psalms:
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God above.’” (52)
Lastly, there are those who lose the fear of the Lord
because they think they can escape or hide from him. It’s kind of a
funny predicament to be in, but actually many fall under this
category. For sure, it’s the devil’s work, supported by one’s
weaknesses and self-inflicted delusion.
We have to contend with these possibilities and wage a
battle of love and peace, of truth and charity, with a lot of patience
to boot. Prayers, heroic sacrifices are definitely needed, but
concrete, doable plans on how to tackle these problems should also be
made.
We have to avoid pursuing this course with bitterness.
Instead, we have to do it with utmost delicacy, bothering ourselves as
much as possible to be correct politically, socially, humanly, without
compromising the truth
But there are also occasions when we should lose our fear
too. In the gospel, there are many instances when Christ would tell
his disciples: “Do not be afraid.” Those were when the greatness of
the spiritual and supernatural character and power of Christ was made
manifest.
Or, said in another way, when the limitations of our
nature could not grapple with the transcendence of the divine, when
our faith could not yet get a safe footing before certain mysteries.
That’s what happened, for example, when the apostles were
tossed by a rough, stormy sea in a boat with Christ simply sleeping.
Or when the disciples saw Christ walking on the water. They were
scared. They thought they were seeing a ghost.
We have to learn to lose our fear in these cases, allowing
our faith to make that leap in the dark that is integral to it. That
is the secret. Many times Christ had to castigate his disciples for
their lack of faith. “O man of little faith,” he would repeat often.
Instead of fear, what we would have would be awe when we
have our faith alive and vibrant. Though it may have some freezing
effect, awe actually attaches us with God. Not so with fear. Fear
makes us to run away from God.
We have to little by little be accustomed to the
mysterious and awesome ways of God. To be sure, we will never feel
totally at home with his inscrutable ways. He will always manage to
pull some surprises. But, yes, to a certain degree we can get
acquainted with them such that we would be left in awe instead of
falling into fear.
It’s an awe that would not deter us but rather would
launch us into a generous and even heroic correspondence to his love
and goodness.
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