Afraid... very afraid

There are many reasons to be afraid, nowadays.

Recession is in the wind.

People are drowning in debt and homeownership is being threatened.

The threat of terrorism is still strong.

The old Cold War rivals of the West, Russia and China, are very much on the rise.

It seems to be politically correct to be anti-religion.

And sometimes we are very, very worried about the choices we have made.

We may be very afraid.

The words of today’s first reading (1 John 4:11-18) speak to us:

Perfect love drives out fear.

This perfect love is not the "true love" of romantic songs and movies.

The perfect love that drives our fear is the love of God that comes to us in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

How can we be filled with that love and be without fear?

First, we must remember that this love is a grace: a free gift of God that we cannot earn or grab for ourselves.

Second, we must open ourselves completely to that love: not only in our hearts and souls, but also in our minds and in our actions. We cannot be filled with the perfect love of God if we do not let that love flow wholly and purely out through us to others.

To paraphrase what Saint John says elsewhere (1 John 3:18), we must love in deed and truth – not merely in pious-sounding words or fuzzy warm feelings.

By the infinite grace and perfect love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may fear be driven out of us for the greater glory of God.