8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First reading Isaiah 49:14-15
Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord has forgotten me.’
Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you.
Psalm: Psalm 61:2-3,6-9
Second reading 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.
Gospel Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.
‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’
Reflection
By Grace Madriñan
If I were to list down the number of instances I worry in the past, I might come up with a novel or volumes of books from 1 to 12! Fortunately, God always has a response to each of my worry no matter how long the list is. I would love to discuss each one of them but it may take us weeks or even months to cover everything so let me just discuss only three of them.
The first one was when I graduated from College. I worried that I may not be able to land a good job since I did not come from a ‘preferred’ school like UP, Ateneo or La Salle. But God surprised me. Barely a month after graduation, I was hired by a multinational company with a starting salary higher than most employers in the industry.
The second was when I was on the crossroads of my career. I have decided in my mind to leave my job of 8 years and apply in another department. But I worried that no one will accept me given that my performance rating a few years before was not impressive enough. I also worried that I will not be able to excel in another job since I have been stagnant on the same type of tasks for the past 8 years. Again, God surprised me. One department hired me for a regional position and even waited six months for me to transition. After a year, I was promoted and enjoyed the kind of job satisfaction I was looking for.
The third instance is very recent, happened when our company discontinued its operation in the Philippines due to worldwide recession. Again, I worried that I will not be able to find a job right away, that I will stutter during interviews since I have not been ‘exploring’ for the past few years. I also worried that I may not be able to blend with other company's culture given that I've heard different horror stories from those who have moved out of the company before. But truly, God never runs out of surprises. He granted my desire to shift to an IT career when I got accepted by a multinational insurance company. Today, after 8 fruitful months since I joined the company, I am continuously being blessed, seeing and learning new things from the different role and industry I am now belong.
As humans, worrying is second nature to us. Jesus knows this very well that’s why He assured us in today’s Gospel that we are far more precious in the eyes of our Father in heaven, and that He knows how to provide for His children. Personally, I know that more worries will be added to my list. But the moment worry sets in, I just have to remind myself of Jesus’ words “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” And that is already sufficient for me.
Father, You have always been our Provider and You have come to our aid numerously . Yet we continue to worry about the things of this world. Forgive our little faith and teach us to aim for Your Heavenly Kingdom instead. Amen.
Don’t just do it, Move it!
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