The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him. // Psalm 103:17
There’s a hilarious old Tumblr thread about how terrifying are the actual descriptions of angels in the Bible, and how that’s why their standard greeting to humans is, “Do not be afraid.” Someone references a Christmas special on an old radio show:
Angel: “FEAR NOT.”
Shepherds: *screaming*
Angel: “I SAID FEAR NOT.”
Shepherds: *screaming louder*
Angel: “WHAT PART OF ‘FEAR NOT’ ARE YOU NOT UNDERSTANDING?”
And someone replies: “Maybe that’s why so many Christians see visions of saints or the Virgin Mary instead . . . like, Jesus is all . . . no, no see being human made me realize sending angels might not be the best idea. I don’t know if humans can handle this. So I’m gonna just send Mom.”
The whole thing always makes me laugh. But also, it seems pretty accurate. It makes sense to me. Angels might be accidentally terrifying, but they do try to soothe us. And Jesus doesn’t want us to fear. He says as much, multiple times (see Matthew 10:26, 28, 31; 14:27; 17:7; 28:10; Mark 5:36; 6:50; Luke 5:10; 8:50; 12:4, 7, 32; John 6:20; 14:27; Acts 18:9).
So then why does today’s Psalm response have us repeat over and over again, “The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him”? Why would we want to do that? Well, because it doesn’t mean what we think it means.
“Fear of the Lord” is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts “complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations” (Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1831). “Fear” of the Lord isn’t a terror of God’s power or of His ability to punish or send discomfiting angels as messengers. Rather, it’s respect for God's power and recognition of our duty to Him as our Creator. This “gift” of fear manifests as a desire to never be separated from God through sin. Because that, truly, is the only thing to fear!
What is holding you back from closeness with God today? Bring it to Him in prayer or the Sacrament of Confession.
Kendra Tierney Norton is grateful to be a wife, mother, and stepmother. She lives in the wilds of unincorporated Los Angeles County in a big old fixer-upper house with her husband and a varying number of their combined fourteen children, plus one fish, two cats, and twenty chickens. She likes to say that her goal is keeping Catholicism weird. To that end, she is the author of books including the Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life with Ignatius Press and O Come, Emmanuel: Advent Reflections on the Jesse Tree for Families with Emmaus Road Publishing, the creator of the TV series Catholic All Year At Home on FORMED, and the CEO of Catholic All Year, an apostolate dedicated to helping parents live out their Catholic faith and pass it along to their children.
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