A clear theme running through this week\u2019s readings is fear. But we need to make a distinction between good and bad fear. There is a holy fear: indeed, precisely one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is fear of the Lord. This is a holy reverence towards God (confidence in God as a loving Father should not be confused with disrespect towards him). This fear can also be a sensible fear of hell, as the ultimate danger we rightly want to avoid. And finally, it can be an expression of affection: the tender fear of offending he whom we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there can also be bad fear. This happens when we lose our trust in God, as Adam and Eve hid from the Lord after they had eaten from the forbidden tree. Fear can result from a wrong understanding of God, seeing him erroneously as a strict judge or tyrant and failing to appreciate he is a loving, merciful father. Finally, there can be a fear when one knows one is behaving badly and is afraid of being caught, like a criminal fleeing the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The devil constantly provokes these latter types of fear, leading us to fear God and lose our trust in him. This leads to panic, which in turn leads to bad actions and decisions. We see this in today\u2019s readings when the opponents of Jeremiah falsely accuse him of promoting terror among the Jews of his time, when Jerusalem was being besieged by the Babylonians: \u201cFor I hear many whispering. \u2018Terror is on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!\u2019\u201d This was an exaggerated distortion of Jeremiah\u2019s message, when in reality his call to surrender to the Babylonians was the right course of action and would have avoided much bloodshed and the city\u2019s destruction \u2013 which actually happened because they disregarded Jeremiah\u2019s words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The psalmist, however, encourages confidence in the Lord. He is able to suffer taunts, shame and rejection because he trusts in God. What would cause fear to others only leads him to renew his abandonment in God. And in the gospel Jesus teaches us about holy fear and what St Josemar\u00eda called \u201choly shamelessness\u201d. Jesus tells us not to fear those who attack him and his disciples. Rather, lose all fear and be courageous in our witness: \u201cSo everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.\u201d Yet it is right to fear and keep well away from Satan, as one would sensibly keep away from a vicious beast: \u201cDo not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.\u201d Finally, what should most give us confidence is to know how much God loves and values us: \u201cFear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The priest\u00a0Luis Herrera Campo<\/strong>\u00a0offers its\u00a0nanomilia<\/a><\/em>A short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n