Two kinds of fear: One helps with the other

The readings on this Feast of the Holy Family encourage and challenge us in our own relationships. The first reading from Sirach, a book also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira, prescribes an ethos of honor and care among fathers, mothers and their children. It was composed during a time when Israel, as a colonized people, was being strongly influenced by Greek culture. The author makes every effort to encourage strong family networks, domestic spheres where Jewish faith and culture could still be cultivated and enlivened. 

Throughout the Wisdom of Ben Sira the author emphasizes the theme of “fear of the Lord. The same theme permeates our psalm recitation this Sunday. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways” (Ps 128:1).  A call to fear the Lord is not a negative concept in the biblical tradition.  It is not a feeling of dread or fright in our relationship with God. Instead, the concept of “fear” within Hebrew-speaking culture encouraged a disposition of reverence and awe before the tremendous mystery that is God. Despite this “wholly other” nature of the divine, that God longs to be in relationship with us prompts a sense of wonder and amazement. Thus, fear of God not only means reverence and honor but ultimately leads to a desire to know and to love the Lord. 

By contrast, this Sunday’s Gospel passage relates a dream that certainly evoked a different kind of fear in Joseph. In the face of a death threat to the child by Herod, Joseph does what so many people down through history and even today must do. “He rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt” (Mt 2:14). In an effort to protect their child from violence or even loss of life, the Holy Family became refugees, bound for a land about which they likely knew nothing. In his last Easter address (April 20, 2025), Pope Francis spoke about the experience of fear and dread of the unknown that confronts refugees. But he also acknowledged the fear and anxiety on the part of those who encounter refugees in their countries and cities. Their worries warrant care, too. Unfortunately, those fears can result in marginalization and alienation of refugees, at a time when newcomers are most vulnerable.  

Paul’s letter to the Colossians prescribes the very dynamics that bind not only individual families together but also unites the human family across divisive lines of alienation and fear. He invites us to “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience… and over all these, put on love” (Col 3:12-14). Such qualities not only nurture the life of individual family members but also foster the wellbeing of the larger human family, especially those seeking refuge in a new land.  Moreover, most refugees do not desire to leave their home. Like the Holy Family, refugees leave their homes to escape violence, persecution, economic instability, environmental crisis, or war.  Given the choice, they long to return home if circumstances were different and a safe and sound life there was possible. Prompted by a dream, Joseph dared to go back with his family, but they could not really return to what was familiar, the place where his relatives likely still lived. Having heard that Archelaus, Herod’s son, was ruling in Judea, Joseph “was afraid to go back there” (Mt 2:22). So Joseph, Mary and Jesus traveled the long and arduous journey to the northern region called Galilee and settled in a town called Nazareth. Once again, fear of potential harm and violence to the child determines where the Holy Family can live.

The readings this week challenge us to think about how to address divisions and even estrangements in our own families. Paul calls upon us to put on love as the bond of perfection.  But mending family relationships is not easy.  It occasions hard work. It may need to happen over a long period of time.  Resolving family discord often requires unwavering courage to take the first step and patience, moderated with Christ-like understanding, or even forgiveness. 

Similarly, these readings extend an even greater challenge, namely to address the divisions in the human family especially in regard to the plight of refugees. In their pastoral letter Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recognizes the right of every person to migrate to sustain their life and the life of their family. Each one of us is called upon in our own way to put our faith into action that will take on many forms. It may require addressing a fear regarding depletion of local resources, or a lack of information about who these people are. It might require working toward a converted heart and disposition toward these newcomers. Or it may take the form of more direct service that extends actual care in the form of food, housing and security for them. Whatever form it takes, Paul encourages us, writing “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col 3:17).