We read about some teacher, minister, or politician who has abused the public trust by doing something illegal or immoral. We read about some product like Firestone tires where a defect or design flaw is supposed to have led to fatalities. Most of us at some point have reconciled ourselves to the fact that if we started fearing everything that is reported to be bad for us, that we'd end up being afraid of everything. What stands out in today's gospel is Joseph and Mary's fear over loosing their son, the young Jesus. You wouldn't expect the earthly parents of the Son of God to be afraid of anything, but they were.
Fear is part of the human consequence of sin and unbelief.
Though few people can see it or admit it, fear drives much of what we do. Dr. Ernest Becker in his Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Denial of Death, argues that much of what we do is actually motivated by the fear of death. He contends that much of our ordinary daily ritual and routine aims at helping us forget that we are going to die. According to Becker, human beings have devised an infinite number of daily activities for avoiding thoughts about their own mortality. Most of us spend much of our time diverting our thoughts away from that question.