Here, l posted about the people afraid of the Church. I am referring to those frightened, not those who have the spiritual gift called fear of the Lord. I want to continue my reflection about them in light of our knowledge about the Church.

Some love their sins and are afraid to lose them. They are slaves to sin (Rom 6:16), and in their confusion, they see the Church as their oppressor, not as the source of their salvation.

There are others who, for reasons that we might not know or understand, are scared by some incorrect image they have of God. Revelation tells us that the Church is Jesus Christ made visible in the world and that Jesus is the image of the Father. So, whether they look at Jesus or the Church, they recall some frightfully wrong image of God.

They must not know that Jesus and his Church glorify the merciful God whose very being is truth and love. The Church rightly prays to God:

Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

Psalm 33

God thirsts that we may thirst for him. God’s love is almighty and will stop at nothing and be stopped by nothing to save everyone. In Christ, God came to reconcile the world to himself, to teach us who he really is, and to call us to eternal life with him.

The scared person rarely, if ever, sees the work of the Church in the liturgy, evangelization, faith, and conversion. They do, however, see the members of the Church. Their encounter with the faithful can also be their encounter with God’s Revelation. Therefore Revelation tells us that the Church is the Body of Christ, that each of the faithful share in his priesthood, and that the faithful have a mission as prophets and kings.

Each of the faithful bears witness to Revelation by his true words and truthful deeds. The Church ministers the sacraments, and by them, we receive the light and strength of the Spirit, become divinized, and go into the world to witness the true, living, and loving God.

Through conversion, the grace of God, and the witness of the faithful, those who are afraid may one day join the Church in giving praise to God:

For you have given us Jesus Christ, your Son, as our Lord and Redeemer. He always showed compassion for children and for the poor, for the sick and for sinners, and he became a neighbor to the oppressed and the afflicted. By word and deed he announced to the world that you are our Father and that you care for all your sons and daughters.  

Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs