Fear is opposite of Love

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to reflect on the effects of our actions that come from Love and those that come from fear, the opposite of Love.

The First Letter of John exhorts us not to forget about sin and to strive to live in the light.

* [1:8–10] Denial of the condition of sin is self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the continual possibility of sin’s recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Joseph is warned in a dream to escape from the fear reaction of the megalomaniac King Herod who causes great mourning and grief among the people over the martyrdom of their children.

* [2:18] Jer 31:15 portrays Rachel, wife of the patriarch Jacob, weeping for her children taken into exile at the time of the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom (722–21 B.C.). Bethlehem was traditionally identified with Ephrath, the place near which Rachel was buried (see Gn 35:19; 48:7), and the mourning of Rachel is here applied to her lost children of a later age. Ramah: about six miles north of Jerusalem. The lamentation of Rachel is so great as to be heard at a far distance.

The account of the Holy Innocents from the Franciscan Media website underlines this enormous grief.

Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Israel). She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.

We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule of justice... pic.twitter.com/QgbuCBCKC3

— The Episcopal Church (@iamepiscopalian) December 28, 2017

Stephen Beale explores the painting of William Holman Hunt in which the Holy Innocents are alive, joyful, and truly innocent.

In the first place, Matthew does not try to explain it away with neat and tidy theological discourses on divine providence, free will, the finitude of evil, and the ultimate dominance of the good—not that those aren’t valid and incredibly relevant truths. But there is a fitting time and place for that. Matthew first chooses to give us an image of absolutely abject grief, taken from Jeremiah:

Carol Zuegner acknowledges the darkness in our society and advocates that we can choose to bring light into the situations of our daily life.

The darkness can be overwhelming, but we have to remember that God is light. We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that God loves us and will be faithful and just if we acknowledge our sins. We live in the world and it is up to us to try to banish the darkness from where we are. We have to try to walk in the light. We can do that in small ways every day. We all have moments in our day where we can choose to be the light. We can be kind instead of short-tempered. We can take time to listen to a colleague who seeks solace even when our own to-do list is miles long. We can be thankful. We can say we are sorry. We can pray, holding those who endure injustice and cruelty in our hearts. We can do something for someone else.

David Peterson addresses the question of Atonement in John’s Gospel and First Letter.

In summary, Jesus suffered for our sin historically when he shed his blood on the cross, thus making it possible for us to experience fellowship with the Holy One. But the benefit of his atoning work needs to be appropriated by confession of sin and ongoing confidence in Christ as ‘advocate’ and ‘atoning sacrifice for sins’.

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the concept of expiation for our sins in 1 John is not in John’s Gospel thus providing an argument about different authorship. Jesus mirrors and fulfills Hebrew prophecy in the Gospel of Matthew in his role as the New Moses.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites Paul, Augustine and John about love.

My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love. God’s love is planted inside each of us as the Holy Spirit who, according to Jesus, “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). Love is who you are.

The returning light in the Northern Hemisphere after Christmas is contrasted with the ongoing darkness of our mistreatment of others, especially the innocent and defenseless, motivated by our fear. The sin that is rooted in fear requires that we confirm in our actions the truth of Love as the foundation of human essence as we build up each other so that Love may be the dominant mark of our society.

References

(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/1:5

(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/2:13

(n.d.). Holy Innocents – Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/holy-innocents/

(n.d.). CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Holy Innocents - New Advent. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07419a.htm

(n.d.). Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(2009, December 17). Atonement in John's Gospel and First Letter « David G Peterson .... Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://davidgpeterson.com/atonement/atonement-in-the-johannine-literature/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/