St. Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.
Mt 6: 24-34
No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. http://www.usccb.org/bible/approved-translations
Seek First
I’m loathe to admit that I’m a worrier. My pride will say I have my reasons to worry—and good ones at that!—each one so practical and realistic … to me. But over the years I’ve learned that worry is exhausting and chaotic. Yet here’s the rub: worry is also a way to cope with life’s storms and struggles to meet our temporal needs.
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel have helped me many times—my thoughts stop in their tracks when I picture the Lord acknowledging my concerns, but assuring me all the same to seek what is above. It can be very challenging to do this—stress can be blinding, urgent and scary. But the Lord doesn’t dismiss our worries—he meets us right where we are, and reminds us to trust in him above all else.
When I’m in anxiety’s grip, I know God is calling me to pray. Seek first. “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). We need to hope, and trust that God is with us—Easter Sunday comes after Good Friday. Sometimes God is as quiet as a whisper, other times as clear as day: Last night, I tucked into a new book, and the chapter ended with a quote from this very passage.
—Kristin Dillon is a lay minister who participates in Charis Ministries programs. She lives in Chicago with her husband and seven-month-old son.
Prayer
The living water that is the Holy Spirit quenches our lives because it tells us that we are loved by God and his children, that we can love God as his children, and that by his grace we can live as children of God, as did Jesus.
—Pope Francis