Here's my homily for tomorrow on the fear of the Lord.
You just heard Moses say it: “what does the LORD, your God, ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly.”
Fear of the Lord is an uncomfortable concept for us to come to grips with. But if we do not begin with fear of the Lord, we can never come to know and love and trust in him.
We hear it over and over again in the Old Testament: “fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of…understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
For the basic reality of God and me is that he is big and I am little. He is the creator and I am the created. It is his will and his will alone that matters. And my part is to obey him or choose turn away.
For the basic reality of God and me is that he is big and I am little. He is the creator and I am the created. It is his will and his will alone that matters. And my part is to obey him or choose turn away.
Without him there is nothing. Apart from him there is formless, empty darkness and lifeless cold. A void. Nothing at all.
But with him is all meaning, truth and endless love. Gazing upon his glory is perfect love and apart from him there is nothing.
Which is why we speak of two kinds of repentance in the Act of Contrition. The first is based on my dread of the “the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,” my fear and abject dread of embracing the dark, cold nothingness of evil and spending an eternity separated from the ground of all being. This is fear of the Lord. A fear based upon the reality that God is very big and I am very little.
But we also speak of another motivation for our contrition, as “most of all” I turn away from my sins because they offend thee my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love.
All good, and deserving of all my love. That is what God is. All powerful? All knowing? sure! But all loving and all good, as well. Worthy of my fear. But even more worthy of my love.
