WORRY, WORRY, WORRY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my thoughts for this Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time is, “Worry, Worry, Worry.”

Is “Worry” everyone’s secret middle name?

Is worry everyone’s ongoing nemesis? [Nemesis: the Greek goddess that inflicts retribution or vengeance or pay backs for wrongs done.]

In today’s gospel – continuing words from the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus tells us his disciples, “… not to worry.”

Isn’t that the hope and plan of every parent – that their kids are “not to worry” - I'm taking care of you?

Jesus tells us not to worry about food and clothes and tomorrow.

Jesus asks, “Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life span?”

Isaiah in today’s first reading tells us not to worry. Trust. “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

So we have powerful words from Isaiah and Jesus today not to worry, worry, worry.

5 QUESTIONS ABOUT WORRY

1) On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the worst, how much of a worrier am I?

2) Scanning the people in my life, can I come up with the name of someone whom I think was biggest worrier I’ve ever met?

3) What do I worry about the most: money, the economy, how I look, how I sound, how I fit in, health, death, war, in-laws, drugs, broken marriages?

4) Jesus said that the birds of the sky don’t sow seeds or reap crops, yet they find food – thanks to our heavenly Father. Have I ever seen a dead bird – and remembered Jesus’ words? Do people who feed the ducks at the dock ever trigger Jesus’ words from today’s gospel?

5) What about trees falling, flowers being crushed, rabbits eating prize plants? What about the people in the Middle East being shot at while protesting in the city square? How does any of these experiences square with Jesus’ words from today’s gospel?

WONDERING, WONDERING, WONDERING

The title of my homily is, “Worry, Worry, Worry.”

I was wondering: does worry age us; does worry give us wrinkles; does worry tighten our nerves and constrict our arteries and this is not good for our health and well being?

I was wondering: what triggered Jesus’ observations in today’s gospel? Did fields of flowers fascinate him? Did Mary and Joseph have flowers outside their home in Nazareth? Did flocks of birds in flight – and in formation – stop him from what he was doing – and give him amazement? What did his face look like in such a moment?

I was wondering: did Jesus saw folks trying to serve two masters – and then did he see how this caused them to become split right down the middle?

I was wondering: did people in Jesus’ time have problems with obesity and the need for more and more clothes? Did Jesus ever overhear Joseph the carpenter listening to Jacob the tailor or cloth merchant talking about the value in fashion changes?

I was wondering what triggered Paul’s thoughts in today’s second reading about the motives of the human heart? Paul says motives are hidden in the dark insides of a person – “so do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes.” Is he sort of saying what Jesus said about not worrying about these sorts of things – worrying about my own motives are tough enough?

CONCLUSION

Today’s gospel and today’s readings challenge us with the issue of worry, worry, worry. I was wondering: what it would be like to try to have a worry free week? Would I laugh more? Would that make me more generous? Would others see a change in my face and my behavior?

This is a non-preached homily - because we had the Archdiocese of Baltimore annual appeal at this Sunday's Masses. I was wondering where I would go with today's readings. This was not a worry, but a wondering.