For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/090607.shtml
It is natural for us to think that we will never be ready to see God face to face. How could we ever be ready for such an encounter? Intuitively, we think our survival is dependent upon our keeping a safe distance between ourselves and God. Sometimes, even our piety is our way of pretending to draw closer to God, when in truth we are more interested in keeping him at a safe distance. Since the fall, it is part of original sin to fear God as a slave fears his master. Indeed, before the arrival of Christ it was accepted that no one could see the face of God and live, so overwhelmed would we be by such an encounter.
So it is natural for Peter to be afraid when he realizes that the Almighty has drawn much closer to his life than he was ready for, much closer than he had wanted the Almighty to come. But in the person of Jesus, the Almighty makes himself known to us as one who is meek and humble. Jesus, though all-powerful, comes to us as one who is ready not to overwhelm us with his power, but to put his entire life in service of us. Jesus came to heal that well-founded fear that we have of the Almighty. He heals it by restoring, and even improving, that original relationship of trust and goodness with His Father that was lost through the sin of Adam.
Jesus must say over and over to his disciples – Be not afraid! He wants to free us from the fear of punishment, death and hell, for this fear is not the mark of the new and everlasting covenant that Jesus offers. Instead, Jesus offers us the fear of God that is holy – the fear that a Son has for a Father – wanting only to please Him and to respond to His will, trusting that God’s will is directed toward our eternal happiness.
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