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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

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