Our readings cause us to reflect on one question today: what or whom do we fear? Three candidates are presented as potential objects for us to fear: humans, the devil, God.
In the Gospels, Jesus warns us against the fear of humans, and lauds the healthy fear of the devil or sin: “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy the soul and body in Gehenna.”
In the first reading, we hear Isaiah overcome with a fear of the Lord, because of God’s holiness and his own unworthiness in the presence of God’s holiness. Isaiah’s fear and unworthiness in the Lord’s presence is assuaged by the angel who purifies him and transforms his fear so that he can respond to God’s prophetic mission for him. In the presence of God, the Almighty, fear and awe are just responses. God desires, like with Isaiah, to purify us, to draw us close, and to mission us. In fact, this healthy fear of the Lord helps to form in us an eternal demeanor in this life – to not fear those who can kill the body and to have a healthy fear and distance from those things that can destroy the soul.
By cultivating in our hearts, a healthy fear of the Lord – an awe and wonder at who God is – we will become like Isaiah, purified in our love so that we no longer fear the struggles of the world nor the temptations to sin. Let us pray for the grace today to grow in fear of the Lord and purification of our hearts to value above all God and the things of God in this life and in the next.