Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

33nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 14, 2004)

Suggested Emphasis

"For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays."

Salesian Perspective

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111: 10)

However, as the Psalmist reminds us, this fear of the Lord (which is directly equated with the acquisition of wisdom) is merely the beginning: it must lead to 'following God's precepts', i.e., it must lead to action.

In other words, fear of the Lord's name must lead to doing the Lord's work!

As we hear in today's second reading, St. Paul certainly knew this: "You know how you ought to imitate us. We did not live lives of disorder…rather, we worked day and night, laboring to the point of exhaustion…indeed, anyone who would not work should not eat."

This fear of the Lord - this fear of God's name - is not meant to paralyze us. No, it is clearly meant to motivate us, to get us moving, to get us working - individually and collectively - in pursuing the precepts of the Lord, of building up the Kingdom of God. Put another way, fear of the Lord should not make us passive, but rather, proactive.

This should be obvious. However, just the opposite message may be (however unintentionally) conveyed when we consider the lives and legacies of the saints who, among other things, clealry feared the name of the Lord: "When we think of holy men and women throughout the ages, we often recall sculptures, drawings and paintings in which the saints look anything but active. Our most active and energetic saints are sometimes pictured doing nothing more strenuous than holding a lily or gazing piously heavenward. And while these images can be moving and inspiring, and helpful for times of contemplation, if one is searching for models of action and energy, they can hold somewhat less appeal." (James Martin, SJ in Patrons and Protectors: More Occupations by Michael O'Neill McGrath)

It is in this light that James Martin writes that "perhaps the most overlooked fact from Christian history is that Jesus worked. We can easily envision Jesus being instructed by Saint Joseph, the master carpenter. In Joseph's workshop in Nazareth Jesus would have learned about the raw materials of his craft...Joseph would have taught his apprentice the right way to drive a nail with a hammer, to drill a clean, deep hole in a plank, to level a ledge or a lintel." (Ibid)

And who could have feared the name of the Lord - and followed God's precepts - more clearly and convincingly than Jesus?

Gregory Pierce suggests that we need to see and experience work as "all the effort (paid or unpaid) we exert to make the world a better place, a little closer to the way God would have things." (Spirituality@Work, page 18)

Work-God's work-is indeed our lot in life, our reason for being, our purpose for living. As we see in the life of Jesus himself, this work can be tiring, laborious and frustrating. Still, what could be more rewarding than using all of our energies to make all our little corners of the world places in which "the sun of justice" can arise in the hearts and minds of our brothers ansd sisters?

Fear of the Lord is, utlimately, an invitation - no, a command - to do the work of the Lord.

Michael S. Murray, OSFS is the Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center