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“Work out your salvation in fear and trembling.” - Philippians 2:12

I wonder if many of us understand what fear of the Lord  really means?  Since it surely seems to me fear of the Lord  is often lacking in the moral life, if not the liturgical and spiritual life,  of many Christians.  Of course, the absence of a spirit of fear of the Lord  may be obvious in the behavior of more dissident Catholics, it is not uncommon to note an apparent lack of it in the lives of mainstream Catholics as well.

Dissident Catholics are infamous for the various demands they make upon the Church to change her doctrines to accommodate assorted moral disorders which have become commonplace in the culture.  In doing so, these people presumptively dismiss any notion of sin or its consequences, which forms the basis of what is known as a servile fear of God.  According to some notions developed from post-Vatican II theology, servile fear of God  is often considered a negative, imperfect expression of devotion to be avoided.  Yet servile fear  is typically an initial, fundamental disposition in the spirituality of the pre-convert and newly converted soul.  The fear of hell is not a bad thing, after all, it is one of the components normally expressed in a good act of contrition. 

“A spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.”- Isaiah 11 

In the second lesson from Matins of the ancient Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, these words are placed upon Our Lady’s lips: 

“I am the mother of fair love, and of fear and of knowledge, and of holy hope.”- Ecclus. 24

So often this notion of fear of the Lord  is dismissed by people who use the words of St. John to deny its necessity; “Perfect love casts out all fear.”  Certainly this is true in so far as perfect love casts out servile fear.  However, it is love and devotion which obtains for us the gift of filial and reverential fear, which inclines us to holy hope.  This holy hope is our confidence in the power of God to help us do the good our will intends, this hope inspires our trust in his mercy and promise of salvation.  Tanquerey writes:

“The gift of fear perfects the virtues of hope and temperance.  It perfects the former by inspiring us with a fear of displeassing God and of being separated from him.  It perfects the latter by detaching us from the pleasures that could bring about that separation.  Hence it may be defined as a gift which inclines our will to a filial respect for God, removes us from sin, displeasing to him, and gives us hope in the power of his help.” - The Spiritual Life

Familiarity breeds contempt.

It is fairly obvious when the fear of God is lacking in certain groups or individuals.  As concerns dissident Catholics, the second letter of Peter perhaps offers examples of such people.  Though highly educated, their academic achievement seems to have erroded their faith, or at least replaced any fear of God they may have known.  The following verses from 2 Peter might be applied to these fearless  dissidents: 

“…Those who live for the flesh in whatever corrupts and who despise authority.  These bold and arrogant men have no qualms whatever about reviling celestial beings,” (or even bishops) ”on whom angels, though greater than men in strength and power, pass no opprobrious sentence in the Lord’s presence.  These men pour abuse upon things of which they are ignorant” (or indifferent)…” - 2 Peter 2:10-12

Yet even amongst faithful Catholics, a certain lack of  reverential  fear of God may be detected.  Especially when we consider the casual attitudes people have regarding Mass attendance and decorum in Church, the neglect of the sacrament of penance and lack of reverence for the Eucharist.

A correction of conscience.

Properly understood, the gift of the fear of the Lord is necessary in order to correct our conscience.  We need to understand that any offence committed against God, “the Infinite Good, demands an infinite satisfaction”, as he told St. Catherine of Siena.  Thus holy fear is comprised of three principal attitudes:  1) A living sense of God’s greatness, and his goodness.  2) A deep contrition for the least faults committed against the Divine Majesty.  3) Avoiding sin and the occasions of sin, as well as conforming ourselves to God’s will, living with confidence in his saving power. 

The gift of the fear of the Lord restrains us from presuming an inappropriate intimacy with God.  Tanquerey explains:

“This gift is necessary in order to avoid an excessive familiarity with God.  Some are tempted to forget God’s greatness and the infinite distance that separates us from him, assuming towards him and towards holy things an unbecoming familiarity, speaking to him with too much boldness, and treating him as an equal.” - The Spiritual Life

Reverence. 

It is unfortunate that in our days, many traditional Catholics, especially those devoted to the traditional Latin Mass, are often accused of pride in their piety and observance of the proper rubrics and decorum while attending Mass.  This demonstrates to me how extensive is the loss of a proper spirit of the fear of the Lord, when its principal hallmark, reverence, is considered a form of pride.

Art: Tree of Jesse: Isaiah 11.  Source