“Scared Stiff” is a familiar expression that captures something very powerful about fear. When we are terrified, we are immobilized, unable to move, frozen in place. Who knows why scary movies have a great following? Maybe it is because of the relief that is experienced when the villain has been vanquished. Whatever the reason, scary movies are not real and cease to cause angst once they are over.
Real fear is something entirely different. It is a natural emotion that warns us about impending danger. It causes us to alter our behavior in order to avoid an impending jeopardy. Unfortunately, fear has a way of creeping into our spiritual lives, distorting our understanding of God and freezing us in a less than healthy appreciation of our faith.
Burning in hell is a fate worse than death. Ever since Dante’s Divine Comedy, images of eternal punishment have been popularized in art and imagination, generating genuine terror, anxiety and dread. Translated into our moral lives, fear of hell has certainly been a source of motivation for the pursuit of a virtuous life.
Certain passages of the Old testament buttress this dynamic of leading a good life to avoid punishment in the next. The Book of Revelation has some absolutely terrifying passages that communicate the same message. What they have in common is a notion of God as a punishing judge who is not above casting us into everlasting pain for the errors of our ways.
There is no question that fear has been a motivation that our Church has used over the centuries to encourage good behavior. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom ... If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell...” (CC 1861). We really do not know what the eternal death of hell is, but we surely do not want to find out.
The problem with fear as a motivating influence for a virtuous life is that as soon as fear is removed so is motivation. Coupled with a reasonable appreciation of human actions, fear disappears when we realize that no one is in hell for eating meat on Friday or missing mass on Sunday. In act, no accumulation of venial sins can ever separate us for all eternity from the mystery of eternal life. And frankly, most of our bad behavior is not serious sin if it is sin at all.
Motivation to lead an honest, loving life should not be grounded in fear. It should be rooted in gratitude. Gratitude, in turn, is the product of getting to know God by heart. We do this most of all by getting to know Jesus in Sacred Scripture. The mystery of the Incarnation, God becoming a human person in Jesus Christ, comes about in order for Jesus to help us understand who God really is. The parable of the Prodigal Son does this in a most poignant way. When the son returns to the father after having squandered his inheritance, the father brushes aside his son’s selfishness and irresponsibility. He embraces him with deep love and affection.
Jesus wants us to know that this is how God deals with our sins and shortcomings. There is no punishment for sin but only joy in the heart of the loving father: the loving God that Jesus wants us to know. Forgiveness is real and without preconditions. It washes over the prodigal son like an ocean wave or a blanket of snow.
How can the son not feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude? How can we not experience the same thing when we reflect upon our own brokenness and God’s unconditional love and forgiveness? Gratitude is the linchpin of the Christian life. It is rooted in our appreciation of the reality and mystery of God. It is the enduring motivation for living a loving and productive life.
Before we can get to know the fullness of who God is, we need to let go of some of the notions that we have of God as the Punisher in Chief. Most of us would never condemn a person to hell. It is hard, therefore, to think that we are more forgiving than God. The fact of the matter is that God is in charge and we do not have to take on the real challenges that God must face every day. What we need to do is be grateful for our loving God who watches over each of us like a loving parent and who never stops loving us in spite of our bad behavior.
On Trinity Sunday, we are reminded that the Father Loving the Son is the Holy Spirit. God is all about love. We are first loved by God and should never fear that anything will separate us from the Love of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ.
Happy and Holy Trinity Sunday - Msgr. Paul