Word to the Wise
Friday, October 17, 2025 - Friday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:1-8 and Luke 12:1-7]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]
OCTOBER 17 ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
The image of sparrows as an example of God's ever present providence has stayed with me for years. I noticed them once before on retreat at a desert retreat house just dusting themselves and squabbling back and forth, and on the Oregon coast where a particular species of them lives in bushes along the coastal path. They go about their lives as best they can and do have dangerous predators to be careful about. But God's providence includes them, along with the ever decreasing number of hairs on my head! On a different scale, my subscription to National Geographic oten features the latest discoveries in space that mention distances in the stars beyond my imagination. God's providence is present there. Yet, in the face of all that wonderment, how does one avoid being AFRAID!
The one thing that God says the most in the Bible is "Do not be afraid!" I think that is one of the most difficult "commandments" of all! Aging brings a collection of "fears." Houston traffic provides more than enough! And there are those "student grandchildren" of mine that I pray for because I fear for them! God's providence is always manifest to me in big things and in small, but that providence has to work hard at keeping fear of various things away. Maybe that's why "Do not be afraid!" has to be repeated so often in the Bible! AMEN