February 26, 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 26, 2017

8th Sunday in OT

Isaiah 49:14–15; 1 Corinthians 4:1–5; Matthew 6:24–34

I once read an article saying that too much worrying can have a negative effect on our health. Aside from making us feel tired and stressed, too much worrying speeds up the aging process of our body and increases the risk for heart attack. For those of us who have the tendency to worry all the time, Jesus in today’s gospel tells us: “Do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear…Your Heavenly Father knows what you need.” Some of you might say “That sounds strange. Does Jesus forbid us from thinking what are we to eat, wear or drink? These are essentials for basic human life.” How do we understand in the words of Jesus in the right context?

Let us reflect on this in three points:

JESUS INVITES US TO TRUST IN THE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD. Jesus is not telling us to stop thinking about the basic necessities of human life. There is a big difference between being concerned and anxiety. We can still be concerned about the basic needs of life without excessive worrying. How? By trusting in the providence of the Lord. Yes our Heavenly Father knows what we need. But it does not mean that we will stop working and just wait for God to provide us with food. What Jesus is telling us is to always couple our human activities with trust in the providence of the Lord.  We need to work hard but after we have done what we could do, we leave the rest to God’s providence. For as the first reading tells us, God never forgets us especially in times of need.

JESUS REMINDS US: SERVE GOD AND NOT MAMMON. Without trust in God, the danger is that we become slaves of mammon – slaves of money. Money is there to serve our needs, support ourselves and our family. But it happens that sometimes money becomes our master and we become its slaves. In the first reading, Israel asked God: “Have you forgotten us? Have you abandoned us?” God should have been the one asking: “Have you forgotten me, have you abandoned me because you now have new masters?” We cannot serve two masters in life. We should be careful: without trust in God we might start serving false gods. What can we do to avoid this tendency?

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD. To seek first the kingdom of God means to serve the real master. When we serve God, we will use mammon or the resources of earth, as a means to serve God. It cannot be the other way around. It cannot be that we worship money and manipulate God to justify ourselves. Loyalty and fidelity to God will give us the right perspective in utilizing the resources and wealth of the earth to serve Him.

Let us pray in this mass for the grace to always trust in the providence of the Lord who never forgets us especially in times of need. May we always strive to seek first God’s kingdom and serve the real master who is God.  Amen.