Am I Worried for Nothing?
Pastor’s Column
6th Sunday of Easter
May 1, 2016
“So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
There is no need to add to the trouble that each day brings.”
Matthew 6:34
Worrying is something that comes naturally for many of us, and yet Christ advises us to avoid it! Being a worry-wart by nature myself, I often remember a wonderful quote that has been attributed to Mark Twain: “I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” So many things we tend to worry about never happen, while other things occur all the time that we don’t even see coming! This is why the Lord insists that we rely on him.
During the ten years I worked for a major airline in Los Angeles, one of the big things they insisted on was attendance and the importance of not arriving late, an ongoing concern with the long commutes some of us had. As a way of guarding against a car breakdown getting me in trouble, I owned two vehicles (doesn’t everyone in LA?), so that if one wouldn’t start, I would have the other one. One of the two was a new car, so there was little to worry about, but it didn’t stop me from worrying all the same! Of course, the morning did come when one of these cars would not start. So, having worried and planned for just such an event, I got in the “spare” car and it wouldn’t start either! So much for all that worrying! Somehow, it all worked out, despite my foiled planning.
Brother Andre Bessette, the great Saint of Saint Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada, was a simple man of few words, yet his holiness and reputation for miraculous healings and closeness to God were apparent to everyone. All of his collected sayings are contained in a book of only 70 pages, and among them is this gem that I keep on my desk:
People are worried for nothing. When help is needed,
it will come in the right place by God.
Most of us worry about the wrong things. How many of us are overly concerned about what others may think of us, but pay little attention to what God’s opinion is! It is always a good idea to plan ahead and prepare contingencies for our families, but the fact is that what frequently happens is precisely what we do not expect! At the end of our lives, we will see that the Lord had everything in hand, no matter how grave things seem to get in our lives. This is why he advised us to worry only about pleasing God, to be concerned with what the Lord desires in our lives and then we will be better prepared when both cars fail to start at the same time.
Father Gary
