Homily for the Week of March 2, 2014

Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2014

Is 49:14-15 • 1 Cor 4:1-5 • Mt 6:24-34

         Jesus tells us “Don’t worry about what you will eat and drink. Don’t worry about tomorrow. With bills to pay and work to be done, we might reply to Jesus: Somebody has to worry. But to clarify his advice Jesus points to the birds and the wild flowers. God provides for them.

         Today we are in the last weekend before Lent. After several weeks of challenges in our Gospel reading we hear Jesus give us a new word. Jesus reminds us that we should not worry. God will care for us, God who feeds the birds and the cloths the lilies will never forget us. So while we are trying to live out the challenges in our lives, we know that God will see to it that we have what we need. These are comforting words and advice from Jesus.

         The American Academy of Family Doctors say that about ⅔ of of office visits are prompted by  stress related symptoms. Some people have the type of personality that is always insecure. Everything seems threatening.  We call them worriers. They worry even if they don’t have anything to worry about. Jesus is not telling us to be irresponsible. We do  have to study to pass and exam. to improve.

        

         In today’s Gospel Jesus moved to the heart of the issue of worry. He preached at a time when almost none of the population had the luxury of thinking about the future. Jesus was well aware of the plight of ordinary people. For most, day-to-day survival was all-consuming. Given terrible poverty, people worried about how they would find enough food, how they would keep their children clothed, and how they would manage to stay in their homes. and how they might recover from just a common cold. They were also preyed on by corrupt Roman leaders who imposed all kinds of taxes on them from birth till death.

         These all-consuming worries took up time that should have been devoted to praise and thanksgiving. Putting God first had been replaced by worry. But Jesus tried to warn them that misplaced priorities lead to the worst of their worries. What we must find is the willingness and faith to trust God. We must put our faith in God first. For most people day-to-day survival was all-consuming

         Jesus tells his disciples not worry, whether about life, food or drink, the body or clothing; and he urges reliance on divine providence.

But How this instruction is heard and taken to heart depends on one’s financial position. To those who have all they need to eat, drink, wear and sustain their bodily health, Jesus gives a warning not to center their efforts on accumulating more. The Gospel advises those who have enough of life’s necessities not to give in to greedy desires.

         But what about those who are struggling just to survive, who truly worry about how they will feed their families? What good is it to voice assurances that God will provide?  Trust and God and don’t worry are not much consolation to starving persons. But the key can be found in the words of Jesus “Seek God first, and all these things will be given you besides.”

         When our focus is on how we and God are relating to one another, those of us who have or more life’s necessities are not concerned about getting more. Rather, we cooperate with God in providing for those in need. Those who are poor can let go of their worries about survival, and those better off can be released from anxiety that derives from enslavement to possessions. These are the kinds of worries that Jesus invites us to let go. It is good when we, who have enough, worry about others who are struggling.  Jesus does not say that we should be passive in the face of genuine need, simply tossing off a happy-go-lucky assurance that God will provide.

         The help God provides is like that of a mother who could never forget her infant, as Isaiah mentions in our first reading. Likewise, the Jesus speaks of God making motherly provision by feeding and clothing not only her human children but wild flowers and birds and grasses of the field. Since God is both fatherly provider, who sows and reaps, and motherly caregiver, who feeds and clothes, all that has come forth from God is tenderly cared for before their needs are even voiced. As children of the Creator, we too, must let go of worry and trust God who wills true happiness for all. At this Mass, and this week, talk to God about your worries. Listen carefully. What response do you hear God giving you?

         Pope Francis, in his talk, “The Joy of the Gospel,” echoes every sentiment we hear from Jesus today. As the Gospel teaches and as Pope Francis reminds us, we are called to create a different world order. We are called to value the things Jesus values, not what the world values. Trusting God’s desire to care for us does not prevent bad things from happening, but trust in God dispels worry. We cannot let worry co-opt our faith in God. The problem, however, is that in our secular society a very large number of people today have not faith in God or in organized religions.They believe that society must be free from religious influence, which can mean that God or Jesus do not exist. 

         Many of us will agree that worry usually leads to intense anxiety. The birds and bees and flowers are not human but they are models for us. If God takes care of them how much more will he take care of us if only we place our trust and faith in him. It is this faith in God’s care that can allow to live free of anxiety and worry. But we must believe that God’s love for us goes way beyond any of the expected or unexpected difficulties that life might throw at us. Isaiah, our first reading, tells us that a mother cannot forget her nursing child.  But God tells us that even if Mothers would forget their children God will never forget us. Jesus is not telling us that we should be indifferent towards the needs and concerns of our daily lives, but that we must place our trust in God above all things. 

         Take a dollar bill. Printed on the bill are the words, “In God We Trust.” Is it God we trust — or the bill itself? “Mammon” which Jeus uses today is far more than money though. Mammon is can be a master of our lives that takes away our energy, our love and our hope. Only God can give hope! In a sense God is the solution to all of our worries. We must trust in God.  We can start trusting God today and dealing with each problem one day at a time.