Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 23, 2018 - Saturday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Chr 24:17-25 and Matt 6:24-34]"Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to you life-span?....Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." [Matthew]
Those of us who were in college in the 1960's when MAD magazine was first popular can remember the goofy picture of a character known as Alfred E. Neumann which featured the caption, "What me? Worry?" There are many challenges in the Sermon on the Mount, which I have been calling "Christianity 101," but the ones in today's passage are among the most difficult for me. I definitely worry about things over which I know I have no control whatsoever. They are not what I'm going to eat or drink or wear, although I know there are millions of people for whom those are real worries for themselves and their families. I don't have to flee my home to escape violence and threats of death. I don't have a mortgage or bank account. I don't have to worry about how I'm going to "retire," since we friars just keep going to the extent our health allows. I do worry a bit about health although I'm in good health for a 75 year old and the health care in Lubbock, TX, where I live is excellent. So, what's to worry about?
My biggest worry, when I think about it, is contained in my concern for the many people I pray for. I don't mean this piously. These are people I care about and know about. They include family, Dominican brothers and sisters, student parishioners (a lot of those) and friends - especially friends - both elderly and young. I worry about each preaching engagement and whether or not it will be helpful for the people who will attend. I worry about how my aging (certainly something over which I have little or no control) will shape my ministry for these "golden years." I share some of the worries that many people have over the current turbulent political scene in our country.
The serenity offered by the Sermon on the Mount is, for me, a work in progress, but when I've experienced it, I know the power of what Jesus is teaching. And I pray that the many people I have in mind each morning when I walk on the Texas Tech campus with my rosary in one hand and staff in the other will be healthy and happy and maybe, just maybe, worry-free! AMEN