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Fear of the Lord: Not Slaves but Sons

Robert Kirkendall June 20, 2026

Let us continue our series of meditations on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

St. John Henry Newman might begin considering “the fear of the Lord” through the theological method of “analogy” that he learned from the Church Fathers and Joseph Butler (1692-1752). That is, we can start with natural and human experiences in order to find intelligible categories with which to rise up to considering the supernatural things of God and our participation in His life, observing at the same time their resemblances and their radical differences. 

Fear certainly is built-in to nature, and rightly so. Like the animals, we appropriately fear (Greek phobos, hence phobia) for our lives and safety when faced with danger. Our mortal and animal frailty needs this “flight or fight” impulse.

We also experience fear in the sense of reverence for things majestic and beyond us that highlight our limitations, potentialities, and aspirations—the strength of a majestic whale, a bolt of lightning, the sublime luminaries in our solar system. 

Something similar, but supernatural, is operative in the gift of “fear of the Lord.” We should fear God’s just punishments, fight off sins, and flee from Satan and hell. But the revelation of God’s love in Jesus Christ also indicates something much higher. 

The Scriptures and saints attest three profound aspects of the supernatural gift of fear of the Lord: it is the “beginning of wisdom,” it is not slavish but filial (related to being children of a Father), and it is a consequence of the Holy Spirit’s divine indwelling in the hearts of believers.

To be wise in the Spirit is to refer everything to God, to see all in His light, and ultimately to enjoy Him beyond all earthly and human pleasures. If fear of the Lord is the beginning of this supernatural wisdom, then it is that which inspires us to find God in all things and let all things move us closer to God. It is like the anxious zeal that a husband has to not displease or disquiet his wife, or that children have to remain in their parents’ good graces. Fear of the Lord produces, in a positive sense, an anxious and loving care to leave no detail neglected, no stone unturned, in the pursuit of knowledge, obedience, love, and intimacy with God.

Second, while a negative fear of the pains of hell and the wrath of God’s judgment is neither wrong nor unhelpful in beginning the spiritual life, it should ultimately resolve into a positive, reverential, and filial fear of our loving Father in heaven. St. Paul writes in Galatians 4:7, “So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.” With Christ as our brother and Lord in the flesh, we can approach the Father as dearly beloved children to whom are given a lavish spiritual inheritance. Newman felt this truth in a deeply tangible way in his devotion to the Holy Eucharist. In sermon notes he left for the feast of Corpus Christi in 1856, he wrote, 

How almighty love and wisdom has met this [difficulty of sin and brokenness]. He has met this by living among us with a continual presence. He is not past, He is present now. And though He is not seen, He is here. The same God who walked the water, who did miracles… is in the Tabernacle. We come before Him, we speak to Him just as He was spoken to 1800 years ago…

What an indescribable gift, what abundant life, the Father offers to his dearly beloved sons and daughters in Holy Communion—His very Self in His only-begotten Son!

Finally, the fear of the Lord is an abiding aspect of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, effected in this life most powerfully in reception of Holy Eucharist as described above. In a sermon for Pentecost written around 1834, “The Indwelling Spirit,” Newman explains the difference between a human or selfish fear and a holy or godly fear. It is our Christian adopted privilege to pray the Our Father, a clear and sure sign that we “are sons,” that “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal. 4:6). Moreover, St. Paul teaches that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). To pray the Our Father is an exercise of fearing the Lord, who pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts by whom we cry to our Heavenly Father in an intimate exchange of filial love.

Newman says that in praying the Lord’s Prayer we learn to look away from ourselves and towards God, to be “zealous for His honour rather than fearful about our safety,” to rest “in His present help, not with eyes timorously glancing towards the future.” And he teaches us that this kind of reverential and filial fear is marked by spiritual joy: “‘A merry heart is a perpetual feast;’ [Prov. 15:15] and such is peculiarly the blessing of a soul rejoicing in the faith and fear of God.” Human fear brings anxiety, preoccupation with the self, hurried speech, suspicions of danger, and a lack of time for the interests of others. But supernatural fear of God, which is “the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart,” brings to the soul peace and a sense of leisure “wherever [one’s] lot is cast.”

Let us learn then, in the fear of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and by the intercessions of Our Blessed Mother, St. John Henry Newman and all the Saints who now rest in the eternal fear and love of God, to pray the words our Lord has taught us with a tender and filial fear, mindful of our glorious status as adopted sons and daughters of the Most High God:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;

And lead us not into temptation;

But deliver us from evil.

Amen.

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About Cardinal John Henry Newman

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A Guide to John Henry Newman will interest educated readers and professors alike, and serve as a text for college seminars for the purpose of studying Newman.

Review by Catherine Maybanks
(Catholic Herald, April 1, 2023)

Review by Serenheed James
(Antiphon, April 2023)

 This book is being currently considered for reprinting, all enquiries to the Sales Team general@alivepublishing.co.uk
 

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Endorsement by Neyra Blanco (Amazon)
I bought this book for my son and he loved it, he wrote this review and urged my to submitted: “I think this book has a very beautiful message, because it shows how the young Newman was so determined to achieve his dream of becoming a priest, but even after his dream he continued to work in the church with passion until the day he died, it’s so admirable that even Newman so old and so weak still had that urge to continued his work of being a priest. And the book is well written with words not too complicated with very enjoyable texts and well illustrated pictures. I highly recommend this book for a 5th grader.  

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What is a Classical Liberal Arts Education? Why is it so important for the development of a person?

Fr. Juan R. Vélez answers these and more questions you might have about University Education in the 21st century. This book is aimed for parents, prospective University students, and educators. It will help you discern why adding Liberal Arts electives to your education will help it form it better, and help the student learn to reason, and not just learn.

He also explains how many Universities have changed the true meaning of Liberal Arts, and the subjects, and gives advise on how to choose College Campus, Subjects, and Teachers.

A wonderful book that every parent should also read way before your children are College bound. A Liberal Arts education can start earlier in life, even from home.

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Endorsement by Christopher Moellering (Goodreads, September 14, 2019)
In Passion for Truth Fr. Vélez gave us an outstanding biography of Cardinal Newman. In this work, he provides a concise overview of his thought and his devotion. This is a great work for someone who, perhaps hearing of Newman for the first time because of his beatification 13 October, 2019, wants to know more about this English saint.Vélez is a wonderful writer in his own right, and the frequent quotations from Newman round out the work nicely. I especially appreciated the frequent citing of Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, which show a different side of his spirituality than his more well-known works, Development of Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Assent.

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Review by Gregory J. Sullivan (Amazon, May 25, 2012)

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Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman, endorsement by Illow M. Roque (Amazon, September 3, 2010)
“There is a time to put direct inquiry on hold and give ourselves to prayer and practical duties.” Sound advice from one of the earlier, thought-provoking reminders in this sparkling gem of a book: Take Five | Meditations with John Henry Newman, written by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Vélez and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This particular paragraph, referenced above, which begins with a direct quote from soon-to-be canonized priest, cardinal and poet, John Henry Newman: “Study is good, but it gets us only so far . . .” is actually the 15th in a series of 76 concise, logically organized meditations moving from the elementary to the sublime. Each meditation–one per page–is built upon the great man’s writings and remarkably rich spirituality. Whether taken whole in one reading or in part page-by-page over a course of weeks and months, these wonderfully insightful meditations will open up, even to the busiest reader in the midst of the world, a unique pathway into prayer and contemplation. My advice to spiritual inquirers at all levels, from the novice to the spiritually adept, is to follow the authors’ recommendation to use this book as a guide for daily prayer and meditation. The structure of the book itself is ideal: first, the authors introduce us to Cardinal Newman, the man, where we are given the opportunity to get to know him through a brief sketch of his life and spirituality at the beginning of the book. This is something readers will likely find themselves referring to again and again, prompting many, I suspect, to even wider explorations of this most gifted Christian leader. Then comes the meditations, consisting of a short summary of Newman’s thoughts on subjects taken, as the authors explain, from various salient points for which Newman is justly remembered: The pursuit of objective religious truth; Teaching on the Virtues; Defense of the Catholic Church; A devout spiritual and moral life; and Generosity and loyalty in his friendships, which sets the topic and tone for each meditation to follow. Each meditation consists of an excerpt taken from Newman’s thirty-plus volumes of writings and diaries. Next comes three brief and extremely useful sections entitled: “Think About It,” which establishes a prayerfully resonant tone throughout the book; “Just Imagine,” which provides a vivid, prayerful experience of the Scriptures that tie in, and finally, “Remember,” a pithy summation which the authors suggest may be used as a daily aspiration. Each meditation is given its own page, which makes it ideal for daily reflection for readers on the go. This book is a must have for every serious Catholic who wants to take their faith to the next level, which is to respond appropriately to the universal call to holiness and seek interior union with God.
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