DON'T WORRY

Do not worry about your life…Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace. And peace is what we desire.

Today, Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount that we have been listening to these past five Sundays. They are words of encouragement and exhortation as we begin the more strenuous journey of Lent on Wednesday, to see what stuff our discipleship is made of.

Sometimes in our journey of faith we seem to focus so much on the trees that we fail to notice the forest. Let’s take a moment to broaden our focus on what this holy pilgrimage is all about. As people of faith, we believe:

1. This visible world of ours is part of a greater spiritual universe from which it draws its real meaning; 

2. Union or harmonious relation with God is our goal, and Jesus is the way;

3. Through prayer and good works we enter into communion with the Spirit of God, and this holy encounter fills us with zest; we experience fulfillment, joy, elimination of fear and a temper of peace, and a solidarity of loving affections.

  

There are many stumbling blocks on our journey that may deprive us of success – our union with God – or better said, our awareness of this holy union. In truth, God is already with us. The Holy Spirit of God is not merely making a visit. Jesus has come to make his abode in our hearts. It is not so much a habitation as a sort of fusion. As St. Paul said, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

The question is, Does our life make visible God-with-us?

Foolishly, in the quest to discover and manifest the Holy Presence, too many make this walk of faith, loaded down with two huge trunks: possessions and enemies. What we do with these reveals what we truly believe, and how successful our pilgrimage on earth will be.

A holy mystic said, Not by accumulating riches, but by giving away that which you have, shall you become the Christ you seek. Possessions not only slow us on our holy quest, they can become such a burden as to prevent our desired encounter. We can become slaves…possessed by our possessions. In short, living based on having is less free than lives based either on doing or being. 

Similarly, despite Jesus’ command, Love your enemies, we often fight fire with fire, shoot down whomever attacks us, lock up offenders, and freeze out undesirables. Force destroys enemies, and may protect what we have, but love turns enemies into friends.

The saints, with their great extravagant tenderness, proved themselves prophetic. That is, treating those whom they met, in spite of the past, in spite of all appearances, as worthy, they motivated them to BE worthy, miraculously transforming them by their radiant example and by the challenge of their expectations. Saints increased goodness.

Ultimately, faith is real if it is the driving force by which we live...overcomes our fears...and fills us with peace and joy.

Where does this leave us? Allow me to share two stories about a frog and a turtle.

The first involves an elderly man who was walking home with a shopping bag of groceries when he came across a frog. The frog yelled out to him, Help me!  He was startled and asked, What can I do for you?  The frog answered, I am really a beautiful princess, but I was turned into a frog by an evil witch.  However, if you kiss me I will turn back into a beautiful princess, and I will accompany you all your life. The man thought about it for a while, then he picked up the frog…and put it in his bag. The frog yelled out, What are you doing?  Why don’t you kiss me?  To which the man said, Frankly, at my age I would rather have a talking frog.

The second story has to do with a turtle, with a shell of about eight inches in diameter, which I “saved” twice one week some years ago while at Sacred Heart in Springfield, Missouri. Both times I found it in the middle of the street in front of our church. A parishioner finally found a home for it. Sr. Laureana, my pastoral associate, said, The turtle is my mascot. It cannot go forward without sticking its neck out.

And there it is my friends. God promises us a heaven on earth ~ a beautiful princess (or prince) if you will, but we have to get out of our comfort zone and stick our neck out - with our possessions and our enemies - otherwise life goes on unchanged. 

I might add a footnote. Years ago, while serving at St. Paul in Chicago, I visited our students, and in one class I was given a six-inch rubber frog, with a little sweater with the letters FROG imprinted on the sweater. When I asked what that meant, they shouted, FROG – FULL RELIANCE ON GOD!

Today, Jesus is saying, Don't worry. Trust me. I’ve got your back. But you have to do your part, too, to see if you really have faith in me.