It is a real joy for us all to relax in the proclamation of today's Gospel, the teaching on God's love and care for us[1].
The images are beautiful, but we do need to be careful that the message is not lost in the poetry. The underlying message of this passage is pointed to those who are weak in faith, certainly me, perhaps also you. The topic of little faith strengthens those of us whose faith in the Risen Lord is continually assaulted by the situation of our daily needs. We are called to faith not just in times of great spiritual experiences, or in times of personal crisis, we are called to faith in the face of our typical daily needs.
Last Sunday's Gospel was the passage in the Sermon on the Mount that immediately precedes today's Gospel[2]. It contains warnings about limiting the growth of holiness through a strict adherence to the law without going to the heart of the law[3]. The bottom line today is that we are to trust in God to provide, I mean, we should not base our trust on our money. Today's Gospel it is an precise demonstration of the faith we must nurture.
You know, in the Lord's Prayer we are told to pray to our Father who is in heaven, now we hear that our heavenly Father knows our needs. We pray that his kingdom may come, now we are told that must seek his kingdom and his righteousness and all else will be given to us. We pray that God might take care of our daily needs, our daily bread, now we are told that we must trust in God to take care of today and not worry about tomorrow.
In the age of Google and Facebook, when nothing is attempted unless it is the result of a thorough consultation, today's gospel affects us the same way it affected the wise of Jerusalem. It seems irresponsible to put our full trust in God and not to worry about tomorrow, but this is the radical faith demanded of all Christians.
We are challenged to live as individuals of faith in a materialistically orientated society. We are challenged to live out the Lord's Prayer. We are challenged to put faith in God first, to make his kingdom our priority, to trust in him not in our stuff.
Today's Gospel is not just a poetic image of God's love; it is a challenge to trust in this love and care.
My brother, my sister, when we put God first and have faith in Him, our happiness is no longer dependent on the contents of our closets, our vacation, our cars or houses, or even the people who move in and out of our lives. When we put God first our happiness flows from the presence of God's love in our lives. When we put God first we have the ability to look at the birds of the sky and flowers of the fields and say, “God, how beautiful they are. How good You are. How caring You.”
In today's Gospel the Lord with love and tenderness calls us to enjoy life BUT by trusting in him… if we could only develop that attitude of faith…! Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome[4], Jesus will say later on in the Gospel of Matthew, My yoke is easy, my burden is light[5].
Let us pray that the Lord give us the faith to trust in the power of his love in our lives and that we will be people of great faith ■
[1] Cfr Matthew 6:25-34
[2] Id. 38-48.
[3] You remember the precepts: it is not enough to avoid murder, we cannot hate, and so forth. That passage was first pointed at the establishment thought of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the wise men or sages of Jerusalem. The limitations of the wisdom of these same sages is confronted with the enthusiasm a Christian must have in God
[4] Matthew 11:28.
[5] Id. 30.
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