Fear of God

With what is happening around us today, where violence is rampant, apart from all the false bravado and lack of self-discipline, an observer would think Filipinos no longer fear God.

The most recent case was the killing of Vice Mayor Julio Masangcay Estolloso of Ibajay, Aklan, who was shot dead inside the Ibajay Session Hall last Friday morning. He was a brother of Father Jose M. Estolloso.

Earlier, an 18-year-old male student entered the classroom of his former girlfriend in another school and shot the 15-year-old girl, after which the boy turned the gun on himself. The boy later died while the girl is in serious condition in a hospital.

What’s going on? These incidents and more are very alarming. It seems everyone’s safety and security are at stake, and the question is, why? Why are these things happening?

Can we say that people no longer have a fear of God? Is this an effect of the modern generation?

Are we prepared to meet our Creator face to face? Fidelity in doing God’s will is the best preparation for our death.

Brethren, amid what is happening around us, whether in politics, in the Church, in our families, or at work, we must always be prepared to meet the Lord, our Judge.

Bear in mind the words in the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him and he with me.”

Since no one is sure about the time and circumstances of one’s death, we must be ever prepared to face Jesus, our Lord and Savior, as our Judge at the moment of our death to give an account of our lives.

Jesus wants to see that we have kept our relationship with Him by growing in holiness.

This growth is helped by talking to Him daily and listening to Him speak to us in the Bible; by asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit; by recharging our spiritual batteries and receiving spiritual nourishment in Holy Communion; by being reconciled with God with a repentant heart through the Sacrament of Reconciliation; and by obeying Jesus’s command to love others by serving the people around us, sharing our blessings with them.

As followers of Christ, we believe in God’s promises, trusting Him completely, and being always prepared to meet Him as our Judge and Rewarder at the time of our death.

Despite the difficulties, trials, and challenges that we may face in life, let us continue to be faithful to the Lord at all times.

We persist through the hardships and trials, the obstacles and disappointments, turning our trials into triumph.

Yes, as human beings, weak as we are, there are times we want to give up in the face of all the challenges. However, we must always put it in our minds that the Lord is ever faithful to the Covenant He has made with us, that He will never abandon us, and He will always provide for all that we need.