From the responsorial psalm: “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: Forever will I confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations.” For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 6:24-34)
“So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
The comforting words of Jesus unburden us from worries that often never come to fruition. Even more, his words remind us that we are all under one Father as he reminds us of his paternal care of every one of our needs. To take in the words of Jesus as he describes this complete dependence on God is to look on his creation, including his own people, and see all around us his eternal mark of beauty and providential care. “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow,” Jesus says. “They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 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, O you of little faith?”
God, help me have faith in your care for me and trust in it even as I work and my mind spins, wondering what’s next. Let me learn from spending some time outdoors today to find that you are everywhere in everything under the sun. “Seek first the Kingdom of God,” Jesus says. Give me the grace to hear those words echo throughout this day and the outcome of seeking you first: “and all these things will be given to you besides.” And if nothing else, help me call to mind the prayer of Saint Padre Pio: “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.