27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A (focus on 2nd reading) October 4, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” Does that statement make you anxious? The Jewish leaders that Jesus is talking to are certainly anxious. The life and teaching of Jesus threaten to change their hard-won power in Jerusalem and their anxiety and anger drive them to the point of having Jesus arrested, tortured, and executed.
As God turns his all-knowing gaze upon us, seeking the fruit of the vineyard, the fruit of holiness in our lives and evangelization of the souls around us, how will we respond? Will we have the fruit he seeks? Will we try to hide our shortcomings by rejecting his servants and blaming them? By lashing out at those who speak the truth? Are we anxious?
As if the eternal fate of our souls wasn’t enough for anxiety, the world around us offers plenty of reasons for it. Economic crisis, pandemic, a constant stream of bad news and fake news, political instability and dishonesty, friends and family turning on each other on social media… who isn’t anxious? Indeed, I hear all the time in appointments and confessions that people are struggling with anxiety. I think it’s fair to say that anxiety is the hallmark of the modern world.
Just as anxiety did not help the Jewish chief priests – they died and Jerusalem was destroyed anyway – it will not help us. What’s probably worse is that being anxious is a violation of God’s command. Paul says it right here in his letter to the Philippians, “Have no anxiety at all.” He’s basically quoting Jesus himself. How do you like that? Being told that your anxiety is sinful probably just makes you more anxious.
But don’t give up hope just yet. Remember that Paul is writing in Greek. Our translation says not to “have anxiety” and sounds to us like he’s describing a feeling. Kinda like saying not to have hunger. How can I not feel hunger? It’s not like it’s a choice. The Greek is more direct. It isn’t about anxiety as an adjective or feeling, it’s about anxiety as a verb, about doing anxiety. The Greek sees anxiety as the practice of repeatedly going over and remembering what’s wrong, thinking on it and worrying about it. It is the choice he targets, not the emotion.
And it’s not like Paul just leaves us with that vague command not to have anxiety, he also tells us what to do instead. “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” So, when those thoughts and feelings of anxiety do pop up, we do two things: petition and thanksgiving.
Anxiety is often an inner conversation with ourselves about what is wrong or could go wrong. To pray is to add one person to that conversation. Instead of telling ourselves about what’s wrong, we tell God and ask for what we need to deal with that. And don’t fall for the trick of worrying about how you pray. Simply tell God what’s going on and what you need without worrying about how you phrase it or even about making sense. Keep telling him as long as you need. The one thing you must include, however, is thanksgiving.
This could mean dropping specific “thank you”s into your prayer. “Thank you God for my children, here’s what I’m worried about, please protect them, thank you for salvation” and so on. Still, this word thanksgiving is the Greek word eucharistia. When Paul tells us to pray “with thanksgiving,” he is also including the consoling power of the Eucharist. The Mass is the best way to put this into practice.
During the offertory, instead of zoning out or reading the bulletin, make your petitions known to God. Think of bundling up your worries and anxieties and placing them on the altar with the bread and wine. See your anxiety and prayers being given to God as I lift the Eucharist up to proclaim God’s glory. Thank God for giving you the chance to present your needs to him at the foot of the Cross, for the fact that the Mass lets you mystically connect with that profound moment even though it happened 2000 years ago. And when you receive communion, know that he is giving you grace to persevere, to carry on despite your anxiety. Thank him for that. This is part of the reason that coming to Mass is so important, watching it online is just not the same and is not as effective. You cannot receive communion virtually; you will miss out on the grace that helps us overcome anxiety.
This is also why you need to go to confession to get rid of mortal sin. Receiving communion in a state of mortal sin blocks this great gift. And if you’re in a situation where you can’t receive communion for other reasons, you need do everything you can to get back to it. Please see me, there are probably more ways to solve the problem than you realize. God will provide help and grace through spiritual communion, but it is not the same as actually receiving the Eucharist in a state of grace.
Then, there’s one final command given by Paul regarding anxiety. “Think about these things.” Noble, gracious, true, excellent things. Part of overcoming anxiety is to stop focusing on what’s wrong. But the mind can’t just not think, so the answer is to give it something else to think about. Look less at the news and social media. Read good poetry, listen to music that isn’t about lust, money, or power… music that’s isn’t just catchy or popular, but genuinely beautiful. Look at wholesome art. Read stories about great men and women, especially the saints. Find websites that focus what is good and hopeful, but also still real. Things that are good and beautiful and pure are reflections of God’s goodness and God is the source of real peace, the cure to anxiety.
Are you anxious? Tell God about it. Thank God for what is good, and for your salvation. Seek out the Eucharist. Think on whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely. God will demand fruit from the vineyard that is our world and our lives. But do not be anxious about it because this same God died on the Cross to show us that he himself will give us what we need to produce the fruit he seeks. This can only be done with a life lived in faith, in trust. That faith doesn’t mean you never feel anxiety or worry, but that you respond to it with prayer, with thanksgiving, with the choice to see and hear what is good. “Keep on doing” this, persevere in following the example of Christ and his many saints. Persevere and, by God’s grace, you will know peace.