Fear of the Lord (Letter 52 to Grands)

In today's Gospel (Matt 10:28), Jesus tells us "Do not be afraid." He repeats it later. This mantra resounds throughout all the scriptures. But then he contradicts himself: "Fear only he who can destroy body and soul in Gehenna." So actually we are to fear...the one who can destroy our body and soul

Who is this? God or Satan? 

And does not John tell us "...love casts out fear; perfect love casts out all fear"?

Too many contradictions!

Such contraries are intrinsic to the mysteries of the spiritual life.

My thoughts follow.

Jesus is directing us into two fears, which indwell each other: fear of the Lord and fear of our own freedom as vulnerable to the world, the flesh and the devil.

Fear of the Lord is not servile, timid, cowering. It is an extreme awe and reverence before His holiness. Extreme! His holiness, goodness, justice and mercy is so overwhelming that we describe our response as fear.

Intrinsic to this holiness is Mercy, but also Justice and Wrath. He is not all kindness, acceptance, and unconditional love. He is flamingly fierce in his Wrath against evil. He does not tolerate evil and sin. He exterminates them. He loves the sinner; but he hates the sin. He destroys the sin...eventually. In his mercy he waits, invites us to repent, he appeals to our freedom.

So we rightly fear His justice and wrath. They are terrible.

And that brings us to our secondary fear: of our own freedom. We are capable of dishonoring and rejecting God. Not only are we capable of such, but we are inclined to it by virtue of original sin and the concupiscence that remains with us even after baptism. Not only are we inclined to it, but we are fiercely drawn into it by the world and the devil.

God has taken a huge GAMBLE. He has rolled the dice. He created us free to accept or reject his proposal of eternal love. Reckless!

On our own, in combat with the world, the flesh and the devil, our chances of victory are slim to none.

But opening our hearts to the blood and water flowing from his side on Calvary we are drawn from our sin into the strength and joy of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ we prevail. We move forward in confidence, expectancy, and joy.

But intrinsic to our faith is an abiding "fear of the Lord."

Presumption of a Church of Cheap Mercy

The saints exhibited great fear of the Lord. They constantly ask for prayer. Mother Theresa of Calcutta was exorcised toward the end of here life. Padre Pio responded to a man who did not believe in hell: "You will when you get there." In his youth he had a vision: to one side, radiant figures in light (saints) and to the other dark figures (devils) and before him a huge monster which he had to fight. With trepidation he did so. And triumphed. His entire life was relentless combat with Satan.

In our Church, in this pontificate of Francis, fear of the Lord has been replaced with the presumption of cheap mercy. Our Lord is stripped of his holiness, wrath, justice, terror, ferocity. He is kind, nice, accepting, welcoming, affirming...unconditionally. Any wholesome virile qualities including law, retribution of punishment and reward, truth, chastity, and loyalty are diminished in favor of an indulgent, cheapened, smothering motherhood.

This past weekend we had in NYC and northern NJ Catholic "pride" masses. The clear message: "don't worry about sin. Relax, stay in your sin. We love you. That is all that matters." Just as bad is the now widespread acceptance of young couples cohabiting/contracepting together without marriage. This is serious sin. For me as father of 5 daughters it is specifically abuse of the woman, even if consensual. This is intolerable. Yet it is calmly tolerated. 

Conclusion

In heaven it is true that perfect love will cast out all fear. "Fear of the Lord" will be pure awe and joy; it will be purged of that real dimension of fear. But on earth our love for God and each other is purified by a necessary fear. A trepidation before the Holiness of God in all its transcendence, extravagance, depth and ferocity.  A hatred and fear of sin. An indifference to death, sickness, failure, losses of all sorts. Awareness of the ferocity of our enemies in spiritual combat: the world, the flesh and the devil.

Lord,

Free us from the illusion, the softness, the indulgence of presumption and cheap mercy!

Inflame us with Holy Fear! Deep awe before your Holiness! Realism and respect for the darkness of sin, the wiles of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the plan of Lucifer for our damnation!

Fill us with confidence in your Mercy, in all its Truth and Justice!