Easter 2026 - Reading #4 - Fear of the Lord
Reading
Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Divinum Illud Munus on the Holy Spirit, connects the gifts of the Spirit to the indwelling presence of God in the baptized soul: "The Holy Spirit, in His eternal procession from the Father and the Son, is the mutual love of both. The scope and purpose of this wonderful gift of the Spirit is that we may be made partakers of the divine nature. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the souls of the just is not merely by grace but by a personal inhabitation."
Leo XIII continues: "The just soul is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Christ promised: 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.' The gifts of the Holy Spirit are habitual dispositions whereby the soul is rendered amenable to the movements and promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that the recipient acts not merely by natural reason but under the supernatural impulse of the Spirit."
The pope establishes the theological framework for understanding all seven gifts: they are not talents we develop but receptivities we cultivate, dispositions that make us increasingly responsive to the Spirit's leading. The fear of the Lord, as the first of these dispositions, opens the soul to receive everything that follows.
Reflection
Four days into our Easter journey, Leo XIII provides the theological architecture for everything we will explore over the next seven weeks: the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not achievements but receptivities. We do not earn them; we open ourselves to receive them. This distinction is crucial, and it marks a fundamental shift from the Lenten season to the Easter season. Lent was largely about what we do, fasting, praying, giving, examining. The Easter season is about what God does, filling, equipping, transforming, sending.
The fear of the Lord is the first receptivity because it is the posture of openness itself. A soul full of its own importance, its own accomplishments, its own sufficiency has no room for the Spirit. But a soul that trembles before the majesty of God, that knows its own smallness and God's infinite greatness, is a soul with open hands, ready to receive. This is why humility and holy fear are inseparable. The proud soul is a clenched fist; the reverent soul is an open palm.
As we build toward Pentecost, think of these seven weeks as a progressive opening, the Holy Spirit gently, persistently expanding our capacity to receive his gifts. The fear of the Lord opens the door. Piety will warm the interior. Knowledge will illuminate the rooms. Fortitude will strengthen the structure. Counsel will furnish it with wisdom for decisions. Understanding will open the windows to light. And Wisdom, the crown, will make the whole dwelling a home fit for God. But it all begins with the door opening, and the door opens from the inside, through reverent, grateful, astonished awe.