Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
What is the fear of the Lord? The Scripture says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10), and the Church’s tradition calls it one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1831). Today, though, we have a strong aversion to a God whom we fear.
In the call of the Prophet Isaiah, he sees heavenly liturgy. He is awestruck. He hears angel choirs honoring God on His throne chanting, “holy, holy, holy.” The Hebrew could also be translated, “sacred, sacred, sacred.” Thus, this is the experience of God’s transcendence; how God is so totally other. Before this sublime scene Isaiah acknowledges his own weakness. This is the proper disposition we ought to have when we consider that God created everything that is, and yet desires to have a relationship with us as a parent or even a friend. It is a tremendous gift to even worship God.
For this reason, Jesus tells us to cultivate an appropriate fear of the Lord. When He says, “Do not be afraid those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both the soul and body in Gehenna,” we might think Christ is referring to Satan. Yet the one who judges the living and the dead is God. Only He is holy and therefore capable of passing judgment. It is not wrath, instead, the Lord tearfully signs off on the condemnation if we have freely rejected Him.
Fear of the Lord makes us re-examine respect paid to God. It is amazing how little things creep in without us noticing: casually taking the Lord’s name in vain, walking around church without genuflecting to the tabernacle, or entitlement to a venial sin because you’ve been good, like, 90 percent of the time. Holy fear reminds us to call to mind the difference between creature and Creator and to know that this life is not a test run.
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections