What’s the Point?
“There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.”1 John 4:18
We are told that perfect love casts out all fear, and that is what Jesus has come to give to us: perfect love. St. John writes there is no fear in love because fear is correlated with punishment. This is not saying that there are no consequences for our actions or non-actions. I’ve heard some people say that sin no longer exists because Jesus already took away all our sins on the Cross. This is an errant understanding. With Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross sin and death were definitively defeated and conquered, but there is still action needed on our part. Will we choose to receive the gift of salvation, and if we do, we must continue to carry our crosses and follow Jesus. Sin and death were conquered, but its effects remain. Our personal sins exist and remain. And we must do our best to avoid sin and it is this perfect love that enables us to do so.
In the Gospel of Mark, after the feeding of the multitudes, we are presented with the narrative of Jesus walking on water. We are told that when the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, they were afraid because they thought it was a ghost. Jesus assured them that it was Him and to not be afraid. Here we can see how fear settled in the hearts of the disciples rather than faith and trust in the Lord. This is the reality of discipleship. It is a journey, and sometimes we will waver, and that is okay. That’s the whole point of our faith. Our faith will be tested, but the question is how will we respond. Sometimes we will be afraid like the disciples on the boat, and sometimes will be like the Apostles after the Resurrection who spread the Gospel even in the face of persecution. It is only with God’s perfect love will our journey of faith have meaning.
When we are so consumed with love, we will not fear and will not be afraid of punishment, because we know that nothing and no one can kill the soul. Today we celebrate the memorial of St. John Neumann, and for the Church in Philadelphia it is a special day because St. John Neumann was our fourth Bishop. During that time, the Church in Philadelphia was going through a difficult time with conflicts within the Church and also anti-Catholic riots and sentiments. And so, St. John Neumann wrote to the Pope asking to be replaced. Yet the Pope insisted he stay, and so he did. Although conflict and hate surrounded him, St. John Neumann allowed the love of Christ to cast out those fears. During his tenure as Bishop, St. John Neumann organized the first ever diocesan school system with the desire to instill in the minds and hearts of children at a young age the truth that God loves them. St. John Neumann allowed the perfect love of God to work in him and through him for the faithful and for the greater glory of God. In love there is no fear, and so as Christians we need no fear of the world or of the enemy, because Christ who is Love lives within us.
