One Catholic's Response to Terrorism

“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” Psalm 56:11

I awoke this morning, like many others, to news that the police in UK have thwarted an attempt to blow up planes flying from the UK to the US, calling it an attempt at mass murder on an unprecedented level.

Pretty scary. Living in a world full of violence and terrorism raises fear in all of us. War continues in the Mideast. Terrorist attacks and attempts take place on a global basis.

How do we deal with our fears? We can discuss the wisdom of flying or not flying. We can talk about "feel good" therapies. We can even suggest self help books and methods.

But that really begs the question of how we should deal with our fears as Catholics.

There is no doubt that the Bible talks about a "good fear", which is fear of God. We are taught to have a healthy fear of God, reverence and obedience to His word.

Passages in the Bible relating to fear of man are diametrically opposed to that. These passages, like the one above, encourage us and reassure us that we are to put our trust in the Lord. We are to have faith that God will take care of us, not only here in our physical bodies but even beyond death .

As we sit here , soaking in news about "unimaginable threats" and "foiled plots", I believe we need to turn our attention to these passages and remind ourselves that, outside of taking reasonable precautions, we are in God's hands no matter what the circumstances we face. He is our Protector, Our Savior and Our Comfort.