Instead of Worry, Pray

Rev. Marcel Divine Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

October 2, 2011

Have there been times in your life when things were so overwhelming that you could not sleep at light? Have there been times when you were overwhelmingly occupied with a problem that you were not able to function effectively well? Have there been issues in your life that dominated your thought? You thought about them all morning, all day, and all night, and sometimes you were lost in thought? If you have experienced any of these, then you have known worry and anxiety. 

Now, worry and concern do not mean the same thing. There is a difference between the two. Concerned leads to action. Worried is a dead-end street. Worry leads to no where good. When people are concerned about retirement, saving for their children’s college, buying a new house or a new car, they usually begin to make plans for them. When people are concerned about their health, they usually do something about it like eating more healthy and trying to exercise more regularly. When parents are concerned about their children, they begin to get more involved in their lives, devoting more time to them and exposing them to the way of the Lord. But it is when these concerns begin to consume and dominate us totally that we crawl and slip into worry and anxiety. If the concerns of life are dominating us totally, affecting our relationship with God and others negatively, and affecting our productivity at work, affecting our sleep at night, affecting us physically, emotionally and spiritually, then we have a big problem with worry and anxiety. 

In today’s second reading taken Philippians 4:6-9, St. Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, do not worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” In John 14:1-2, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me...” In Matthew 6:25, Jesus says, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, and what you will wear...” 


Worry or anxiety is the greatest thief of joy, peace, good health and fruit bearing.

Sometimes we scorn people who tell us not to worry. We argue that it is easier said than done. We feel that those telling us not to worry do not understand our problems because if they did they too would be worried. But today, St. Paul tells us not to worry about anything, instead to pray about everything. Worry is worthless because it does not produce any good fruits. And if we don’t produce good fruits, Jesus says in Matthew 21:43, that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from us if we don’t produce fruits and given to those who produce its fruits. 

But why do we worry? Some people worry because they walk by sight and not by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We must walk by faith and not by sight.” Some worry because they don’t really know the God they serve. Others worry because their service of the Lord is halfway. Those who are into an intimate relationship with Jesus have nothing to worry about. In that relationship they have come to understand from Jeremiah 32:17 that nothing is too difficult for the Lord. They have come to understand the promises of the Lord especially the one in Joshua 1:5, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life....I will never leave you or forsake you.” They know that Hebrew 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.” (God made this promise 12 times in the Bible; there is one for each month) 

Dearest beloved, worry is worthless. It does not resolve any problem. It adds no moment to our life-span instead it shortens our life. Worry is a gravedigger. It digs the grave of those who worry too much. It is a quick race to the bottom. Worry is wrong because it focuses on the wrong issues. It keeps one’s attention on the wrong things. For instance, a student gets so worried about graduation party that he or she misses the joy that comes from the accomplishment of graduating. Some of us too much about the winter weather that we don’t enjoy the present weather. Some ladies worry so much about looking good that they are so absorbed with themselves and cannot even enjoy the company of those with them. Some of us worry a lot about old age that we don’t get to enjoy now that we are still young and kicking. We worry about death that we don’t get to enjoy the life we now have. 

Worry fuddles our thinking. Trapped in the state of worry, we often look at situations with a magnifying glass, which makes problems bigger than they really are. Worry makes our condition bigger than God himself. Why worry when we have a very big God? Do not worry about tomorrow, for God knows tomorrow. We don’t know what tomorrow holds for us, but we know who holds tomorrow. The one who holds tomorrow is no other person but our dearest good God who loves us with an everlasting love. Because the one who holds tomorrow is good and loves us, we have nothing to fear or be worried about. Since the one who holds tomorrow loves us incredibly, let’s set aside fear and anxiety and embrace hope, hope in God who loves and cares about us. 

Worry clearly shows one thing- a lack of trust in God. It is as a result of doubt. Even after talking to God in prayer, the worrisome person still feels that his or her prayer is not heard. Doubting God’s goodness and ability to save and deliver leads to worry and anxiety. This is why James 1:6-8 says, “But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” Worry is sinful because it demonstrates either God is not able and capable or God does not care. But Matthew 9:8 says that with God all things are possible. And 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your worries on him because he cares for you.”

Sisters and brothers, worry is a waste of energy. There is nothing productive about it. It is a journey to nowhere good. It hinders us rather than help us. Worry leads to fear and eventually paralyzes us. Worry is like a cancer; it gradually eats us the faith of the believer. It robs us of our happiness, peace and serenity. It affects our health. It causes ulcer, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression, crushing headache, colon distress and sometimes overweight. Worry makes it difficult and sometimes impossible for us to address the issues we should be doing something about. 

St. Paul tells us today to confront worry by prayer. He says pray about everything. There is no situation, circumstance or problem that cannot be brought before our loving Father in heaven. Rather than talk to self, let’s talk to God. Worry is talking to self; but prayer is talking to God. Rather than fret, talk to God. Instead of wasting sleep and rolling from one side of the bed to the other, let’s keep watch in prayer. Rather than waste your tears, pour those tears at the feet of Jesus. Instead of putting hands on the head and walk about anxiously aimlessly, raise those hands to God. Hold the hand of God. Grip that hand of love and care reaching out to you. 

Instead of worry, turn to God. Now turning to God does not eliminate all life’s problems. But by turning to God, worry is replaced by faith; anxiety gives way to peace; doubt is replaced by trust and confidence, and fear gives way to hope. With that we can confidently declare with Job and say, “I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).