The Fear of the Lord - 18th Sunday after Pentecost(2022-10-09)

My dear brethren,

Today in the Alleluia we sing with the whole Church “the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory” (Ps. 101:16). And at the end of the Gospel, St Matthew wrote: “the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men” (Mt. 9:8). This teaches us about the Holy “Fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of Wisdom” (Ps. 110:10)

The Church teaches that there are three kinds of fear, according to the object and motive that inspires them.

The first kind of fear is the “fully servile fear”, when one fears the chastisement of God, for a selfish motive: for example, a slave fears his master because he knows that, if he is caught disobeying him, he will get a horrible beating, but if he could disobey without being caught he would. Note that this was not only found in pagan times, but also this was the condition of the black slaves in the USA for the first hundred years of that country (until the 1860s). This is also the fear of a bad wife, who fears that if she is caught in infidelity she will get a horrible beating, but if she could do it without being caught she would. Note here in passing one evil of contraception, which make some people think that they can get away with all kinds of impurity without consequences – They think they can escape earthly consequences, but they will not escape God’s Justice.

There is no love in such fear, there is even a certain desire to escape from God, to run away from God. Such fear of God is found in the devils and in the damned and in wicked people. If that is the only fear that prevents one from sin, it is not sufficient, and it is not “the beginning of wisdom.” Such fear only comes from selfishness; it is found in people such as Epicurius, the pagan philosopher, lover of pleasures, yet advocating to avoid certain excess of sin in order to avoid the natural evils that follow them (for example to avoid drunk driving, in order to avoid an accident, yet without any contrition for drunkenness). Note that in such fear of God’s punishment, what is bad is not fear itself, but the servile aspect of it: the fact that one wishes he could disobey without punishment. There is still internal love for sin, though one abstains from the external act. To abstain from the external act by fear is in itself not bad, but this internal love for sin is itself already sinful. That fully servile fear is not sufficient for the sacrament of confession: the forgiveness of sin indeed requires the inner detestation of sin itself, not merely of its punishment.

 

The second kind of fear has a fear of the punishment, but as a starting point in the return to God. This is called the “simple servile fear”, or perhaps better called “initial fear”. Here one fears the evil of sin itself, manifested by the punishment: it includes a beginning of the love of justice. The fact of the divine punishment for sin manifests the evil of sin itself: since the Just God so punishes sin, it must be that sin itself is very evil and ought to be avoided at all cost. Here there is a beginning of docility to God, a beginning of the working of actual grace in the soul: out of fear of punishment, one avoids both the external act of sin and the internal consent to it. One may feel at the level of the senses a certain inclination to sin, e.g. the drunkard may feel an inclination to drink, but one detests not only the punishment but the sin itself, both external and internal. That is the fear of God found in “attrition”, the first degree of contrition required for the sacrament of penance.

This fear of God that not only prevents one from the external act of sin, but also removes one from the internal sin itself is good, it is the first step towards Wisdom, though it is not yet the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. This initial fear has helped many on the path to Heaven, and one finds it even in the lives of great Saints. Saint Theresa of Avila, of whom it is said that she never committed a mortal sin, was at the beginning of her religious life rather tepid. One day she had a vision of the place in Hell where she would go if she would continue on that path: indeed venial sin, especially when it is consented to and becomes habitual, is the slippery road to mortal sin. Saint Theresa says that this vision of Hell had been one of the greatest graces she ever received. It propelled her to great generosity and fervour, which led her to great holiness.

For many souls, when the love of God seems not enough to avoid sin, it is useful to look further to the end of the road: if they are tempted to turn away from the road to God, let them look at the end of the road of sin: Hell! Do they really want to go there? If not, let them turn back to God, detest sin and embrace true penance. Thus, for many souls the fear of Hell is a great “missionary” that help them to avoid sin itself at the beginning of the spiritual life. Indeed, the first stage of the spiritual life is the “ascetic life” when one strives to remove all sin: at that stage, the fear of hell does indeed strengthen the soul for the avoidance of sin and practice of virtue. The fear of the punishments of Purgatory help us also to avoid venial sin, especially deliberate venial sin. That was the motto of St Dominic Savio: rather to die than to sin! Not to compromise with sin; mortal sin is an absolute NO, never, nowhere.

St Augustine says that God is merciful and in His mercy He will receive whosoever will return to Him. But He did not promise a tomorrow! Now is the time to serve Him; now is the time to say no to sin and yes to God; later is too late: one day there will be no “later”, and we know not when!

Another strong consideration of St Augustine can help: God is God and “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7), so don’t deceive yourself: either you do what God commands and you will be rewarded according to the Law of God, or you do not what God commands and you will be punished according to the Law of God. Whatever you choose, you cannot escape the Law of God! So, don’t fool yourself: the choice is yours, Heaven or Hell! These arguments based on the fear of the Lord are often found not only in the writings of the Saints but in the Holy Scriptures itself. For example, St Paul writes: “It is a frightful thing, a horrendous thing, to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). And Isaias wrote: “The sinners in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa. 33:14).

But the one who spoke the most about Hell in the Scriptures is actually our Lord Jesus Christ Himself! There are too many passages to be quoted in a short sermon as this one. Everyone should know by heart these ones: “Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels… And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting” (Mt. 25:41,46). And in this other passage, our blessed Lord repeats three times to make it absolutely clear: “And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire: Where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than having two feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire: Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. For every one shall be salted with fire: and every victim shall be salted with salt. Salt is good. But if the salt became unsavoury; wherewith will you season it? Have salt in you, and have peace among you” (Mk. 9:41-49). This salt is the fear of the Lord; that holy fear is good, it gives its strength to the Apostolic predication. It protects our soul from corruption. The modernists have lost that salt, and they became insipid, losing the taste of virtue.

But there is a third kind of fear, which the Scriptures call “holy” and the Church calls “filial fear, or chaste fear”. This holy fear is the fear of sin itself, as a separation from God, as a child fears to be separated from his father, or a chaste spouse fear to be separated from her beloved spouse. God is our Heavenly Father, and the Spouse of our soul. That holy fear proceeds from the very love of God: He is our treasure, and we fear nothing except to lose Him. That fear of the separation from God by sin, in a certain way, forgets about chastisement but focuses on the evil of sin itself as a separation from God, from Divine Goodness. St Augustine says that, even if God would not punish sin, the soul that really loves God would still absolutely avoid it because it displeases God, because it separates from God.

The Scriptures has the highest praises for this holy fear. Thus, the holy man Job says: “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding” (Job 28:28). “The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, filling up peace and the fruit of salvation:” (Eccli. 1:22). “The fear of the Lord is his treasure” (Isa. 33:6). “The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever:” (Ps. 18:10). “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments” (Ps. 111:1). “For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him” (Ps. 102:11). “O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!” (Ps. 30:20). And St Peter says: “in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh justice, is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:35).

St Thomas Aquinas teaches, and the whole Tradition with him, that this holy fear of the Lord is a gift of the Holy Ghost, and a beautiful fruit of Charity: we love God Himself, and delight in the Lord. We fear separation from Him as the greatest of all evil – indeed, this is the core of the evil of sin; it is what makes mortal sin the greatest of all evil.

This holy fear of the Lord is full of admiration and awe in the presence of God, because of His Perfection, His transcendence, His sublimity. This holy fear leads to the deepest adoration, worship. St Thomas Aquinas says that in Heaven itself, such awe and worship will continue, since the Saints will perfectly give to God all that they owe Him, not only love but also this awe-inspired perfect adoration and worship. Indeed, we see this described in the Apocalypse: “every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them: I heard all saying: To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces, and adored him that liveth for ever and ever” (Apoc. 5:13-14).

That holy fear is the foundation of a deep humility: with St Michael, we say “Who is like to God?” No one, not even the highest angel, can be compared with God, who transcends all. Our Lady herself was filled with the Spirit of that holy fear and said: “his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him” (Lk. 1:50). She certainly counted herself among these, “that fear Him.”

When we come to Mass, we come to adore the most Holy Trinity. Let us ask from the Holy Ghost that he fills us with this Spirit of holy Fear, so that we may be filled with awe in the presence of God and adore Him devoutly, deepening our humility and asking for the grace of fidelity, so that we may be never separated from Him, but rather come to the beatific vision of Him in Heaven. Amen!

Father François Laisney