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The Fear of the Disciples

  • SERVANT OF GOD CATHERINE DE HUECK DOHERTY

When I was little, my father used to say that, if you were a real Christian, you would never be afraid of anything or anyone.


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For were you not, if you were in the state of grace, the temple of the Holy Trinity?  And wasn't the Blessed Mother there?  For where the Trinity was, there Our Lady of the Trinity was sure to be.  And naturally your patron saint would be within you too, as would your angel guardian. 

Furthermore, as a Christian, you had the right and the duty, when in danger or need, to call on all the heavenly spirits for help, to call on anyone or everyone in the Church Triumphant, which is all the people of God in heaven.  So, living, walking, breathing in such a glorious company, how could you be afraid of anything but sin?  Sin alone has the power to bring real death.  It has to be feared with a great fear, but nothing else.

You shouldn't fear illness or even death — both are precious gifts of the Lord!  Sickness can make you into his likeness, even as all pain and sorrow does, and bring deep spiritual peace and understanding that cannot be reached any other way.  And death?  Death is Christ calling your soul for an eternal rendezvous of love.  Oh, the joy of at long last being home, in the arms of the beloved!

This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.

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Acknowledgement

Catherine Doherty, CM. "The Fear of the Disciples." excerpt from Grace in Every Season (Madonna House Publications, 1992).

Reprinted with permission of Madonna House Publications.

This excerpt appeared in Magnificat in 2013.

The Author

dohertyCatherine de Hueck Doherty († 1985), born in Russia, established the Friendship House in Harlem, New York, in 1938, and later the Madonna House in Combermere, Canada. She is author of Grace in Every Season, Soul of My Soul Coming to the Heart of Prayer, Dear FatherLiving The Gospel Without Compromise, An Experience of God Identification with Christ — a Road to the Mystical Life, and Catherine de Hueck Doherty: Essential Writing.

Copyright © 1992 Madonna House Publications