Br. Jonathan Maury tells us in today's video that perfect love casts out fear: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." (1 John 4:18)
This often brings to mind the 23rd Psalm, that we can traverse the Earth and be utterly safe with God. Here in Lent, though, we are looking at our own behavior, and Br. Jonathan reminds us that we all have a fear of not being good enough, of losing the love of those close to us, or of losing God's love because of our own shortcomings.
The focus here should be that perfect love casts out fear, and that is the love God has for us. One doesn't have to be worthy of love to receive it: one simply has to accept that love is another of those graces we can be grateful for.
This often brings to mind the 23rd Psalm, that we can traverse the Earth and be utterly safe with God. Here in Lent, though, we are looking at our own behavior, and Br. Jonathan reminds us that we all have a fear of not being good enough, of losing the love of those close to us, or of losing God's love because of our own shortcomings.
The focus here should be that perfect love casts out fear, and that is the love God has for us. One doesn't have to be worthy of love to receive it: one simply has to accept that love is another of those graces we can be grateful for.
No comments:
Post a Comment