From fear to courage

We can forgive a child when he is afraid of the dark.
The real tragedy of life is when a man is afraid of the light.

Plato (427-347 bC)

Three times in today’s Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples not to be afraid (Mt 10:26.28.31). But what is fear? It is an emotion of defense that arises in us when we perceive a real or imaginary danger. We can say, and this is its positive side, that it allows us to live avoiding dangers. Fear is therefore configured as a lever for survival. But fear can become pathological when it assumes forms that are too pervasive in the subject. Hence the anxiety, panic, phobia, and fear, which make fear the place where man experiences his fragility and his mortal being. In a book published in 1947, the Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer wrote: «The Enlightenment has always pursued the goal of removing fear from men and making them masters. But the fully enlightened earth spends under the banner of triumphant misfortune”. The two great thinkers wondered how it was possible that in the face of an ever-widening knowledge of science and the ever-higher improvement of technology, humanity could have fallen into totalitarian ideologies, such as Nazism, Communism or Fascism. The ultimate cause appears to be the inability to sustain the unknown. Hence the paradox: knowledge grows, with the relative certainties, but fear does not disappear. On the contrary, this seems to be getting stronger and stronger because the unknown is still disturbing.
Fear makes its entry into the Scriptures from the very first pages of Genesis. Adam hides, after the transgression, because he is afraid of God (cf. Gen 3:10). This fear then becomes mutual between the Progenitors, who discover themselves naked and therefore vulnerable. From that moment man is afraid of man. Emblematic then the path of Israel towards freedom; a journey full of divine promises and constant fears. “You brought us up out of Egypt – the Jews say to Moses – to put us to death” (Ex 17:3). One episode is extremely eloquent: the crossing of the Red Sea. Of course, fear arises from an objective situation: Israel faces an endless sea and a fierce Egyptian army behind it. Moses asks the people to trust: “Do not be afraid” (Ex 14:13). If fear sometimes alters and magnifies, trust transfigures, to the point that the sea becomes a great wall that opens up a possible path in the humanly impossible.
Fear also crossed the Son of God, Jesus. The evangelists do not hide it. Mark writes that in Gethsemane the Master “began to feel fear and anguish” (14:33). Marco uses two very strong verbs: ekthambeísthai and ademoneín. Jesus is frightened, disoriented, dejected, and petrified. The fear of death in the now imminent passion throws him into a state of anguish and anxiety. And what does he do? He prays to the Father, calling him with the name of domestic familiarity: abba. And if on the one hand he asks that the cup be removed, on the other he abandons himself to him. Overcoming fear arises from this trusting self-surrender. There he is resurrected. From this event comes the angel’s invitation to women not to be afraid because the Crucified One is risen (cf. Mt 28:5-6). The resurrection inaugurates a new world.
The courage that arises from Easter faith refers to the heart (cor), goes beyond rationality (even if it is not irrational). Having evangelical courage means having heart; not having courage is lacking in heart, in love. Love is courageous and for love you face the hardships and dangers of the journey. «Courage – said Augustine – is a love ch and bears easily all things in view of what he loves.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Santa Maria – Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey