December 3/First Tuesday of Advent
His delight shall be the fear of the LORD. ~ Isaiah 11.3
Midway through a retreat I was leading for faculty and staff of a Jesuit high school some years ago, a young teacher sitting in the back raised her hand. “How,” she asked with a hint of exasperation, “do I explain ‘fear of the Lord’ to my students? They just don’t get it.” This is indeed one of those biblical phrases that baffles us. It conjures stock images of a wrathful Old Testament God, breathing fire and brimstone and consigning the wicked to the fires of hell. But the fear of the LORD that is the source of delight in today’s reading from Isaiah is a different experience altogether. Hebrew has many words for “fear” — the terrors of the night that leave the psalmist quaking, the panic that overtakes the Israelite army in the face of Goliath’s challenge, the emotional trembling that grips Isaac when he comes to understand Jacob’s deception. The word Isaiah uses, however, means an awe-filled reverence for God that leads us to right and righteous actions. The person who fears the LORD will follow his or her conscience, as in Exodus: “The midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.” The person who fears the LORD will help those in need and treat others fairly, as in Leviticus: “You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God.” The person who fears the LORD will acknowledge God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, and will express that awe and reverence through actions of love and care that bring solace to this troubled world.
Almighty and everlasting God, As I seek and find delight in worshiping you, make me a bearer of your goodness and love wherever I go. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120324.cfm
To hear The Clerkes of Oxenford sing “Blessed are all they that fear the Lord,” by Orlando Gibbons, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPHs1XZ4MtE
