The gospel for this Sunday is a wonderful preparation as we begin to set our sights to Lent, which begins this coming Wednesday. Lent is our spiritual time in the desert. In the desert, we are stripped of our usual conveniences; only the very basic elements are found for our own survival. We are confronted with the basic questions of life. And before we enter into the wilderness of Lent, the gospel today reminds us with these simple, yet powerful, words: Do not worry!
“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?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.”
We live in a society that champions self-control. We want to be in-charge, and we always want to make provisions just in case something comes up. There’s really nothing wrong with that. As the old dictum says, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” But, at times, this can be taken to the extreme where one no longer leaves space for God—where God’s providence is relegated to the sidelines. Ultimately, this
excessive desire for self-sufficiency and control brings havoc to our lives—creates unnecessary stress and anxiety. The reality is we do worry about many things, and some of these concerns are justifiable, but we should not lose sight of the abiding presence of God. Ultimately, God is in control no matter our situation.
To a world mistrustful of everyone and anyone, God says: Trust in me.
To a world anxious about the future, worried about getting ahead, and what to eat or how to dress, Jesus says: Don’t worry. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
To a world craving the latest, the fastest, the coolest, the hottest, he says: No. Look elsewhere. Look to what is small and simple and beautiful—the birds, the flowers. God takes care of them. He will take care of you. “Trust in me,” he says. Trust in God.
“I will never forget you,” the Lord says in the haunting words from Isaiah. The psalmist cries out: “Only in God is my soul at rest…with God is my safety and my glory.”
I would like to invite everyone to our Parish Lenten Retreat this coming Saturday, March 4 from 9am to 12pm at the Parish Center. This will be a great opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for the season of Lent. The word “Lent” comes from the old English word “lencten,” which means springtime. In spring, we anticipate the blooming of the flowers, gardens come to life once again, the beauty of creation “springs up” again. But before all of that can happen, we need to prepare the soil or the ground and weed out the wild plants. In short, preparation is necessary and crucial for the garden to bloom once again. Lent is that time for us to prepare the soil of our hearts and weed out the wild plants that hamper or get in the way of the full blossoming of the garden of God’s word. So, let’s come together, you and I, to this retreat to prepare the “ground” of God’s word, so that God’s majesty and splendor can truly bloom in our lives. So that in Easter, we can truly say the words of St. Paul to the Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
– Fr. Cary