+ Our readings today get to the heart of what concerns us as
human beings: feeling secure, being cared about, being loved,
being appreciated, and being provided for. We all have these basic needs: after
all we are “strangers in a strange land”; earth is not our “home,” and the
yearning and longing that is in our heart for something more satisfying, more
permanent, more complete proves it. This desire is placed in us by God himself,
for he does not want us to get too comfortable on our pilgrimage; he wants to
keep us reaching for and moving towards him.
The very short first reading
today from the Prophet Isaiah summarizes it nicely: sometimes we feel abandoned and alone: “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.” (How often have we thought or said these
things?) But what follows is a classic
reply by God: “Can a mother forget her
infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? (which is an
inconceivable thing, just mentioned for drama). Even should she forget (which is highly unlikely) I will never forget you.” God will
never forget us, because his love brought us into existence and sustains us;
and it is his desire to sustain us by the life of the Church – inaugurated by
the death and Resurrection and ascension of his Son – Jesus.
The second reading talks about
the attitudes that the disciple of Christ – a member of the Church ought to
have: to be non-judgmental about the
motivation of the heart: for it will
all come out in the end: when the
Lord comes, he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and manifest the
true motives of our hearts – and then everyone will receive what he deserves
from God.
And of course, in the gospel
passage we have the magnificent positive attitude that a disciple of Christ
ought to have: that of utter, complete
and absolute trust, both for the day and for the morrow! One who believes
that Jesus is Elder Brother, also believes that God is loving and providential
Father who will “give us our daily bread” – all
that we need to make it from morning to night – one day at a time.
Therefore, being concerned about tomorrow is a sign of disloyalty to God, and
in a sense sinful.
When we think that we must manage each and every aspect of our lives: when we think
that we are the center and others,
including God, revolve around us: then we
are sadly and sinfully mistaken. But when we give God everything to manage,
make him the center of our lives, then all of our days and nights will be
filled with joy and peace – and we will be children pleasing to him – and there
is nothing he will not do for us when we ask!
This gospel passage was
instrumental in St. Francis’ full conversion to life in Christ – and in the ultimate formation of his Order of Friars Minor. May it be an
instrument for our own continuing conversion to the Lord, our own search for
perfection, our own act of faith and love in Jesus and his Father.
Rest
in God alone, my soul!
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