Rather Than Worry, Turn to God with Unyielding Trust

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the eight Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Church, Baton Rouge, LA

Sunday, March 2, 2014

 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) 

Has there been a time in your life when things were so overwhelming that you could not sleep? Have there been times when you were so preoccupied with a problem that you were not able to function effectively well? Have there been issues in your life that dominated your thought 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.

There is a difference between worry and concern. Concern leads to action. But worry is a dead-end street. It leads to nowhere. You can be concerned about preparing for retirement, saving for college, buying a new house or a new car, and you begin to make plans about these concerns. You can be concerned about your health, and you begin to eat healthy and exercise more regularly. You can be concerned about your children and you 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 your concerns become all- consuming and debilitating that you slip into worry. If the concerns of life are dominating us totally, affecting our relationship with God and others negatively, and affecting our productivity in our jobs, affecting our sleep at night, and affecting us physically, emotionally and spiritually then we have a big problem with worry and anxiety. Worry or anxiety is a universal phenomenon; it is the greatest thief of joy and peace. This explains why Jesus in the gospel of John 14: 1-2 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me…” And in today’s gospel from Matthew 6:25, he says, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

Sometimes we scorn at people who tell us not to worry. We argue that it is easy to say that and a lot harder to do it. Recently a friend said to me, “One day a friend of mine called to tell me what she has been going through. After listening to her, I told her not to worry, instead should cast her problems unto the Lord because he cares a lot about her. As soon as I said that, she cut the call, I tried calling back severally; but she refused to pick my call; and other efforts to reach her failed because she refused to pick my calls. When eventually I met her in person, I asked why she was refusing to pick my call, and she bluntly said, “I hated and still hate your advice. I don’t want to hear that again please!” Some of us feel the same way towards people who tell us not to worry. We feel that people telling us not to worry do not understand our problem because if they did they too would also be worried.

But in today’s gospel, Jesus condemns worry and says that it is worthless and folly because it shows a lack of confidence in the ability of God. We worry because we doubt God. We worry because we walk by sight and not by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith and not by sight.” We worry so much because our relationship with God is not deep. We worry because we are serving the god of worry; we worry because we are serving the god of materialism. We worry because we are not impeccably right with God. We worry because we are serving two masters, and we are not sure if any of them will come to our rescue. Jesus himself says in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We worry because we don’t really know the God we serve. We have not entered into an intimate relationship with him. Our service of him is halfway.

Beloved in Christ, worry is useless. It does not resolve any problem. It does not add any moment to our life-span instead it shortens our life. It is a gravedigger. Worry is a quick race to the bottom. Worry is wrong because it focuses on the wrong issues. The Lord says, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” As I said before, worry is worthless because 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 worry so much about the winter weather that they don’t enjoy the present weather and do not enjoy the Christmas vacation with family. Some ladies worry so much about looking good that they are so absorbed with themselves and cannot even enjoy the people around them. Some of us worry so much about not having enough money that we fail to enjoy the journey of life and what life offers us at the present. We worry about old age that we don’t get to enjoy now that we are still young. We worry about death that we don’t get to enjoy the life we have now.

Worry fuddles our thinking. Trapped in the state of worry, we often look at situations with a magnifying glass which makes things bigger than they really are. Worry makes our situations bigger than God. Why worry when you have a very big God? The book of Isaiah 41:9-10 says, “…you are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my victorious and righteous hand.”

Worry makes us loose sight of who we really are and who we belong to.  Jesus tells us today that God is more than capable of taking care of us. God is abundantly able to guide us through. It is our God that cares for the birds, the flowers, and the animals. Therefore Jesus asks, “Are you not more important than they?...If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you…?” Worry belittles us by making us less important to God than birds, flowers and animals. But we are not.  God cares for us. Our heavenly Father knows all that we need. “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” 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 the good God who loves us so much. Because the one who holds tomorrow is good, we have nothing to fear. Because the one who holds tomorrow loves us so much, we can set aside fear, worry, and anxiety, and embrace hope, hope in God who loves us and cares for us.

Dearest beloved, there is nothing productive about worry. It is a journey to nowhere. It hinders rather than help. Worry leads to fear and can eventually paralyze us. Worry is like a cancer; it gradually eats up the faith of a believer. Worry weakens physically, emotionally and spiritually. It robs one of happiness, peace and serenity. It affects one’s health; it causes ulcer, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression, crushing headaches, and colon distress. Worry makes it difficult for us to address the issues we should be doing something about. To avoid worry, Jesus urges us “To seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things (food, clothes, house, money, jobs, life-partner etc) will be given you.” Seeking God first who is goodness ultimately leads to finding the good things that come from him. And finding the good things of life eliminates worry and anxiety that usually come as a result of their lack. To eliminate worry, St. Paul says in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” There is no situation, circumstance, or problem that cannot be brought before our loving Father. Rather than talk to self, talk to God. Worry is talking to one self; but prayer is talking to God. Rather than fret, talk to God. Instead of wasting your sleep in worry, keep watch in prayer. Rather than waste your tears, pour out those tears at the foot of Jesus. Instead of pacing around in your house looking dejected, pace to Jesus and hold his hands.

Finally, I will not forget to tell you that worry or anxiety can be conquered by gathering with other members of the Church in the worship and sharing of the Word of God. The book of Hebrews 10:25 says, “Do not give up the habit of gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another all the more as you see the Day is drawing near.” And Jesus himself said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather together in my name, I am there among them.” If we stop worrying, instead start turning to God with an unyielding trust of a child to the father, then, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Remember, the Scripture did not tell us that all our problems will go away. We are not told that we will immediately comprehend the problems we are going through. We are not told that by turning to God, all human problems will go away. Earthly life comes with the cross. The Lord himself said in Matthew 16: 24, “If any of you wants to be my disciple, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” So turning to God does not exterminate 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 loudly and confidently say with Job, “I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

Stand not on your rights but with Jesus

Rev. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, February 23, 2014

If there is one word that best summarizes, especially the first paragraph of today’s Gospel it is long-suffering.  The word “long-suffering” has several synonyms: endurance, tolerance, fortitude, forbearing, unresistant, docile, restrained, contained, self-control, unresponsive, resigned etc. But the most graphic definition of the word is the ability to take or tolerate violence, insult and aggression without descending to the despicable and dishonorable level of the hater or the aggressor so as to do unto them what they did unto you. Long-suffering is a virtue. Jesus practiced it. The early Christians practiced it too. Christians across the world have practiced it. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela practiced it as well. It is generally referred to as “non-violence.”

Long-suffering or endurance was central in the teaching of the early Church. Our ancestors in faith did not only preach about it, they also practiced it. It was central in their teaching because it was the virtue that gave them the uncommon strength and courage to withstand the tortures of persecution without denying Jesus or attempting to revenge or to pay back their aggressors in their own coin. Here in the United States, we thank God there is religious freedom. Each person is free to worship God without facing trials or persecution or death. But our ancestors in faith, the early Christians did not have the same environment like we have today. They faced serious opposition, torture, persecution, hatred and even death. Those among them who did not have the virtue of endurance or long-suffering either abandoned their Christian faith or adopted the old teaching: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” They fought back their aggressors. But in today’s Gospel, which is the continuation of the Sermon on the Mouth, Jesus recommends long-suffering or endurance as the characteristic ethic of the Christian life and as the virtue which makes a Christian man or woman stands out among others: 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.”

This is a hard teaching, but it is not impossible to practice. From a legal perspective, an offended person has the right to seek judicial redress. An exploited man has the constitutional right to stop his exploiter from taking what belongs to him and also to regain what has been taken from him. To seek redress when you are struck in the eye is your legal right. To seek a judicial arbitration when you are unjustly and maliciously treated is your legal right. When someone harms you or illegally takes away what rightly belongs to you, you have the right, as enshrined in the constitution to seek redress. When your rights are infringed upon, legally speaking, you are entitled to fight back through litigation. But to seek redress is a right and not a duty. According to William Barclay, “The Christian thinks not of his rights, but of his duties; not of his privileges, but of his responsibilities.” Any Christian who constantly engages in litigation, who continuously fights to finish just to preserve his or her rights in the law court, who refuses to endure some of the passion experiences of Jesus has departed from the Christian way of life. The person may still be in the church, but he or she is out of the track to the Kingdom. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to sometimes give up our rights. You may ask why? Because, as someone puts it: “If we live by the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will all become blind and toothless.” And as Mahatma Gandhi puts it: “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” The State of Florida has witnessed two high-profile cases that caught the attention of the nation: the killing of Treyvon Martin and Jordan Davis. The two men at the center of these two cases relied on Florida's “Stand-your-ground-law” to waste the lives of these two young men. “A stand-your-ground-law is a law of self-defense which gives individuals the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without any requirement to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation.” Because of this law, some lives have been cut short. I am not a lawyer, but I don’t have to study law to know that the stand-your-ground-law can easily be abused. It is possible for two adults to argue, quarrel and in some cases to fight  without any of these leading to the death of any. In a hostile situation, it is possible for one party to retreat and to walk away without aggravating the situation. But the stand-your-ground-law can be the reason for violence and aggression. But as Christians, Jesus has not called us to stand on the stand-your-ground law. He invites us to stand on mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, love and long-suffering. 

Some may say that long-suffering is a sign of weakness. Others may argue that it is a sign of cowardice. But it is none of those. Long-suffering or endurance is a sign of courage and inner strength. Pope John Paul II once said that “Powerlessness is a new kind of power.” It is much easier to revenge, to retaliate, and to fight back, and much more harder to hold back. The one who holds back retaliation, who stands on duty and not rights, who stands on mercy, forgiveness is the stronger one. Morally feeble and weak people do not forgive. Jesus wants his followers cultivate the virtue of long-suffering not because they are helpless and weak or because there is nothing they can do about the situation but because God himself is long-suffering and we are called to imitate God. Since God endures all our foolish behaviors, we are enjoined to endure that of others. Do you want mercy from God? Then show mercy to others. Do you want God to stand on patience and love when he looks at you? Then stand on love and patience when you look at others. Do not stand on your ground! Even if that is what the law says, you mustn’t stand on your ground. You can walk away peacefully. Romans 12: 19 says, “My dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the wrath of God. For Scriptures says, ‘vengeance is mine, and I will repay, says the Lord.” You can stand on compassion. You can stand on pity. You can stand on love. You can stand on mercy. You can stand on the dignity of human life. You mustn’t stand on your rights. Stand on your duty. If God stands on his rights, none of us will still be around. If Jesus stood on his rights, we wouldn’t have been saved.

Now, the virtue of long-suffering does not mean that we are to turn a blind eye on condemnable and abusive situations or that we should not work hard for a more just and perfect society. No! It means that instead of standing on our rights, we stand with Jesus. We imitate Jesus who, even in his personal life, gave up his own rights while at the same time condemned all forms of injustice.

We are the salt and the light of the world

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, February 9, 2014

There is story of a father who was teaching his son what a Christian should be like. He taught his son that a Christian is the salt of the earth and the light of the world and few other things. At the end of the lesson, the father realized that he has dug a big hole for himself because the little boy then asked him, “But daddy, how come I have never met one of these Christians?”

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:13-16), Jesus used two vivid images to describe what it means to be a Christian: “You are the salt of the earth,” “You are the light of the world.” Salt is a very common seasoning, and unless for medical reasons, it’s something we put in everything we cook. Of all the seasonings we use for cooking, salt is the most important. Without it in a food, it lacks real taste. Salt makes our food tastes better. It is a seasoning that enhances the flavor of food. Now, when the Lord said that we are the salt of the earth, what he meant is that we are the seasoning that spice up life. Life is not all about gloom, doom and fear. Wherever there’s gloom, we are to sow hope, hope in the Lord. We should be the most optimistic people in the world and our optimism should be centered on the fact that He lives. Because our Redeemer lives, we can face tomorrow. Jesus wants us to bring hope where there is cynicism, to sow joy where there is sadness. Even in the face of trial and tribulation, speak with Job in Job 19:25, “I know my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” Salt brings out the best taste of food, Jesus wants us to be the flavor that brings out the best in everyone. He wants us to bring out the best in us, and the best in the world. He wants us to give human life a meaning.

In the ancient world, salt was also used as preservatives. Before refrigeration and canning became the order of the day, meat and fish were preserved either dried or smoked or it was heaped with salt. Salt was used to preserve meat and fish, to keep them fresh and free from corruption. Jesus wants us to preserve the world from becoming rotten, bad and ill. He wants us to preserve the family, to preserve human life, to preserve the church, to preserve our bodies, to preserve truth. He wants us to have a certain antiseptic influence on life. We must influence the world and not the other way round. 

Salt was also used as curative. It has some medicinal value. Too much of salt can trigger high blood pressure, but salt deficiency can cause some diseases too. Before modern medicine, salt was used as antiseptic. It was often poured into an open wound to clean any impurities. By asking us to be the salt of the earth, Jesus is also asking us to be healers. He wants us to heal and cure the brokenhearted, the depressed, the lonely, the hungry, the bereaved, and those who experience the tragedy of life. We should not be indifferent to the pain of the other just because it is not happening to us. When one person suffers, we all suffer. We are the Body of Christ. The tragedy of the other should be the tragedy of all. Indifference is not a virtue. Silence is golden but not when you notice discrimination and maltreatment of another person. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” We are to spread the message of hope and forgiveness, the message of our Savior who heals all who are hurt and wounded. The best cure we can render to our offenders is forgiveness. Salt also creates thirst. We are called to make people thirst for Jesus, thirst for righteousness and goodness. 

Jesus also said we are the light of the world, and we are to put our light on the lamp-stand so that everyone in the house can see it. So the Lord is not only asking us to preserve the world from deteriorating, he also wants us to shed light on the darkness of the world. But remember that the light that radiates or shines from us is the light of Christ. We have no light of our own. Psalm 36: 9 says “For you (Lord) are the fountain of life, and in your light we see light.” So what we say or do can brighten or dim the light of Christ. A light is something that is easily seen. Christianity should be seen. A Christian should be seen and known. There can be nothing like secret discipleship. Our Christianity should be visible to all. Christianity should not be visible only in the Church. A Christianity that stops at the church is worthless. A Catholic should be a Catholic in the factory, in the restaurant, in the workshop, in the classroom, in the kitchen, in the office, in the golf-course, in the hospital, in the library, and everywhere. St Augustine once closed his Mass with these words, “I am about to lay aside this book and you are soon going away, each to your own business. It has been good for us to share our common light, good to have enjoyed ourselves, good to have been glad together. When we part from one another, let us not depart from Him.” A light is a guide. We are to be the guide of the nations. Jesus wants us to be a shinning example to others.