Thursday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Tobit 6:10-11,7:1,9-14,8:4-9 | Psalm 127(128):1-5 | Mark 12:28-34
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways! (Psalm 128:1)
What sort of god is the Lord, who asks us to fear Him?
The sort who is our Father, that’s who.
But what does it mean to fear a parent?
Certainly not the fear that precedes death or misfortune.
Instead, it’s the fear borne out of love and respect, a palpable awe of our Creator, a deep-seated unwillingness to displease He who has been our refuge and strength from our earliest days.
It’s this love-streaked fear that compelled Tobias and Sarah to beseech the Lord for His grace and protection.
It’s this all-encompassing love that Jesus reminds us is the first and greatest commandment.
It’s the fruit of our tremendous respect for God, that yields in turn the fruits of faith from His generous hands, as the psalmist reminds us.
Amen, I say to you, brothers and sisters.
Amen.