Meditation for February 19, Fear Nothing

Ours is an epoch of fear, and in consequence some people spend their life trembling. Such anxiety is useless, without merit, and what is worse, an insult to God's providence. A consideration of this last point is of paramount importance.

Confidence is not merely a game of childish fancy, which pic­tures the universe as touched by the mysterious wand of a fairy, becoming thereby a sort of golden age where all the world is bright, where every folly is suppressed, where no calamity of any kind has the right to enter.

It is rather a question of asking ourselves in the midst of un­certainty and confusion, in the midst of attacks and persecutions real or threatening, before horizons over which clouds are gather­ing, bringing storms in their wake, whether or not we believe in Divine Providence, with a faith that is both trustful and confiding.

What a difference there is between the viewpoint of a saint and that of an ordinary soul. Consider, for instance, the counsels of Charles Foucauld:

"Don't be any more concerned about health or life than a tree is about a leaf that falls."

"The weakness of the average human being is a source of strength."

"Jesus is the Master of the impossible."

"Never to fear anything is the one thing that we absolutely owe Our Lord."

What courage! What faith! What absolute sur­render of oneself into the hands of God! How differently I would regard endless perplexities, my little habit of taking my pulse, my trembling for everything and nothing, my living in depressing anxiety.

"My God, grant me a greater confidence in what You are, a more wholesome and real conviction of the power of Your Providence. O Jesus, since I owe You this confidence, teach me never to fear anything, I, who now fear everything."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)