St. Basil the Great, after reflecting on the great gifts of God given to us in Jesus his Son, said:
“When I think of all this, I am left terrorized and swallowed up with fear that, because of fickleness of heart or preoccupation with things of no importance, I may weaken in my love of God and even become a reason of shame or disorder for Christ.”
I thought that a remarkable concern on his part. I am trying to live out my new year’s resolution of living without fear and trusting more, and here I have a great saint saying he was “terrorized” by the fear his love would weaken for God and he may be a cause of shame for Jesus.
Holy fear?
The incomprehensible generosity of God in his gift of his Son in reparation for our sin stimulates in us, hopefully, gratitude. This gratitude is expressed most completely in our celebrations of the Eucharist. St. Basil seems to remind us that gratitude can be accompanied by a holy fear.
Your thoughts?
