Labor Day

Labor Day

Gospel Mt 6, 31-34

Jesus tells us that we should not be worried or anxious about our life.  How can He possibly say that to a father of a family who has been out of work for 2 years and faces foreclosure on his house and personal bankruptcy?  In the Latin text of the Scriptures, the word we translate as “worry” or “anxious” is sollicito which means “violently moved or shaken”.  In other words, an earthquake!  Now having just experienced an earthquake for the first time in my life, this word speaks to me.  I remember last week when the house was shaking and sounding like a moving train, I myself was shaken into a kind of paralysis.  I was so focused on the event that my mind could not make a rational decision nor was my will able to act.  If we allow the troubles of our life to shake us so deeply that we cannot work to address them, then there is not much hope for us.  We are obliged to be concerned for our welfare and the good of those in our care.  This is part of “seeking the kingdom of God and its justice”.  Yet we must do so with an attitude of faith in God’s help.  Jesus says in another place, “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust”.  This trust does not inspire us to sit back and let God or the welfare agency to take care of everything for us.  But it frees us from that paralysis which prevents our minds from being open to creativity and inhibits our wills from acting courageously to solve our problems and achieve our goals. “Sufficient for the day is its own evil” So let us get to work on today’s evil.  Don’t worry, there will be more tomorrow.