Fear Not, My Children

In today’s reading from the Prophet Baruch, he addresses several different audiences.  He calls to the children of Israel who have been taken captive by Assyria.  He addresses the neighbors of Jerusalem.  Finally, he calls out to Jerusalem itself.

If we wish to boil the message down to just a few words, we would do well to pay attention to the phrase that both begins and ends this excerpt.  “Fear not, my people.” “Fear not, my children.” 

Fear is a human emotion that most of us, if not all of us have experienced at one time or another in our lives.  Like all emotions, it is neither good nor bad.  It simply is.  As is the case with almost all human emotions, it is what we do with the emotion that can be either good or bad.  God and God’s messengers frequently begin their addresses with words such as we hear in this morning’s reading.  It is part of the message that Zechariah hears in the Temple of Jerusalem, part of the message that Mary hears at the annunciation, and part of the message that the shepherds hear as they tend their flocks in the fields of Bethlehem.  It appears frequently in both the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures.

What happens when we are fearful?  In most cases, it paralyzes us and makes it impossible for us to act.  Inasmuch as God’s Word usually is meant to spur us to some action, fear can keep us from acting on God’s Word.  In the case of the Israelites, the neighbors of Israel and Jerusalem itself in today’s reading, fear might have kept them from renewing their covenant relationship with God, might have resulted in despair during their captivity, and, in some cases, actually did keep the Israelites from rebuilding the city of God.

Admitting our faults is a fearful thing. Most people will say at one time or another to their confessor that they really don’t like confessing their sins.  I have never met a person who does like it.  Yet Baruch tells the people of Israel that admitting their wrong doing is the beginning of their return to God’s good graces.  The same is true for us.  Reminding ourselves, sinners all, that God desires our return is essential if we are to grow in our relationship with God.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator