Rich in Trust ~ reflex on Matt. 6:24-34
My husband and I have seven children and ten grandchildren. As I write this, eight of those people live in our house and two more are visiting. That means there are routinely 10 mouths to feed and I have to cook dinner for 12 tonight. And the Lord says, “Do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’” Does that mean I don’t need to make a plan for that? “All these things the pagans seek.” Am I some kind of pagan if I am concerned about having enough groceries for all these people?
No. Jesus clarifies all this when he says, “seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… Do not WORRY about tomorrow.” It is not a call to be irresponsible, but to continuously remember that God is primary, that His great love should be our great concern, and that He never pauses His care for us! Our own plans are not guaranteed to succeed, but God’s Plan for our true good, our every good, our eternal good, is always successful. He created us with a Purpose and Plan. We are not random or useless or unimportant to Him. We come from Love, we are returning to Love, and Love is rescuing us every step of the way. So we need not worry, even as we work to provide.
The focus and dynamic of the life of a Carthusian monk is different from a young man in college, which is different from that of a bishop or a mom of seven and grandmother of eight - each of our lives has its own concerns and dynamic which are proper to it. Today’s readings remind us that we cannot expect God to bless our lives or our plans when they go against His will. But when we align our whole being with the generous will of God, He will help us see the needs and concerns proper to our particular life and submit all to Him in loving trust.
When we try to make all our own arrangements and provide for all our own needs and wants, we will always be disappointed, because no matter how rich we are, we find ourselves too poor. But if we love the Lord first and make trust in Him the rule of our life, allowing His plan to guide us as we work to meet our true needs, we will always find ourselves rich in the things that matter!
This trust in the merciful love of God makes it easy for us to be faithful to Him, to be generous with our goods and ourselves, and to offer our very lives to Him in gratitude. This is to live a Eucharistic life – a life of thanksgiving and praise to the God who knows all our needs and cares for us even better than we know how to care for ourselves.
As my husband often says, “We don’t have much in the bank, but we are very, very rich.”