Fear is the proper reaction to that which we cannot understand and which overwhelms us. Our natural inclination is to govern the world by carving it up into small parcels that our minds can grasp. Whatever cannot fit into our conceptualization of the world is frightening to us. In the ancient world, it was the realm of the gods; in the modern mind, it is the Unknown.

Jesus’ greeting to the two Marys, though, evokes a different kind of fear—a fear that coexists with “great joy,” as if it is bounded only by the dread that it cannot last. It is the fear of the person who has fallen deeply in love, afraid only that his or her joy cannot possibly last; or of the person who has just won the lottery and who fears that it must be some mistake. This fear-in-joy overtakes them even as they are in the midst of grief, and surprises them with its spontaneous power. The one whom they thought was dead is alive. If Christ lives, of what then should they be afraid?

Excerpted from The Ignatian Workout for Lent