Word to the Wise
Friday, October 20, 2023 - Friday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:1-8 and Luke 12:1-7]A worker's wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due. But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. [Romans] Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. [Luke]
St. Ignatius of Loyola has been quoted as saying, "Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on you!" I cannot help but notice the order of those two statements. Faith, as St. Paul notes in today's first scripture, must come first. The image of the sparrows in today's gospel may seem impractical to us as if those little birdies do nothing but flit around and squabble, but, in fact they have to work their little feathers off every day just to stay alive. Ultimately their lives and ours are dependent on God. The attitude of "Pray for pay!" can easily creep into our relationship with God. Can we really believe that God "owes us?" Abraham did as God asked, and God did make promises to him. God kept those promises but they were not "earned" by Abraham's behavior but were a gift that Abraham had to believe would come.
What Jesus and St. Paul are saying is not a recipe for laziness. St. Ignatius' statement remains true. We are called to further the Kingdom of God in all our actions. St. Paul criticizes people in his communities who believed that because Jesus was coming soon, they didn't need to work! [2 Thess. 3:10-12] What the apostles and other disciples did after Pentecost could only be motivated by faith because it cost many of them their lives.
I find help in the statement attributed to a great Dominican preacher, Lacordaire: "All I know of tomorrow is that Providence will rise before the dawn." With that in mind, I can get on with my day. So can the sparrows! AMEN