The WORD in Other Words by Fr Simon Boiser SVD (Germany)
Saturday 11th Week in Ordinary Time
2 Cor 12:1-10, Mt 6:24-34
A depressed man was about to jump from a bridge. An alert police officer moved toward him and tried talking to him out of it. The officer said to the suicidal man, “Surely nothing could be bad enough for you to take your life. Tell me about it.” He told that his wife had left him, his business had gone bankrupt, and his friends had deserted him. Everything was lost and life had no meaning. For half an hour he told the policeman his sad story, then both of them jumped.
Despair can be contagious; it comes from excessive worrying. Worrying can be positive when it spurs you to take action and solve a problem. It is negative when it spirals out of control, drives you crazy and damages your health and eventually your life and those of others. Worry is most often a prideful way of thinking that you have more control over life and its circumstances than you actually do.
Jesus tells us to stop worrying and learn to trust in God. There is difference between worry and genuine concern: worry immobilizes you, but concern moves you to action. There is also a difference between planning and worrying for tomorrow: planning alleviates worry, but worry makes you more afraid and have difficulty trusting God. So do not let your worries about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.
The more you pray, the less you‘ll panic. The more you believe, the less you worry. You‘ll feel more patient and less pressured when you entrust everything in God‘s hands. Whatever is going to happen will happen anyway, whether we worry or not. Thus, Jesus said: “Seek God first and all other things will be given to you.”
Éditions Verbum Bible 
One comment