Sunday Reflection_8th Sunday of the Year (2017)

There are two lovely statements about trusting God in today’s readings. In the first reading from Isaiah God says: 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. In the Gospel Jesus says: So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. In both cases we are told about the unconditional love of God for us.

I can remember preaching in a parish one Sunday on the unconditional love of God. I told them about a mother of nine who taught me what that means. We were having coffee after the morning Mass and she said to me with tears in her eyes: Larry, I cannot imagine my children doing anything that would stop me loving them; do you think I love more than God does? I suppose my theology teachers had taught me about the unconditional love of God but I had never had it put to me in such a concrete way. Anyway, after the Mass at which I preached the sermon one woman came up to me very angry. She said: how do you expect us to keep our children good if you tell them that God loves them no matter what they do. She obviously wanted to use the love of God as a reward for good behaviour. The idea that God loves us (just as most parents do with their children) no matter what we do seemed to her a “dangerous” teaching. Yet it is a love that we can count on – that we can trust.

Jesus says that it is because of this love that we can trust God. He points out that we cannot “serve God and mammon” – it is another way of saying that we cannot prioritise the attempt to “secure” our future (“tomorrow”) over against being concerned about serving God. I don’t think Jesus is saying that it is not right to plan for the future. What is dangerous to our serving God, though, is the thought that we can secure and control our future if we gain enough wealth. Sometimes we can get so anxious about “having enough for a rainy day” that we lose perspective on what is important at the moment – our health, our family, our happiness, etc. Jesus uses some examples of God’s care for creation that Pope Francis would be very happy with – the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. God loves all creation, and God provides for their needs. He is not giving a biology lesson or saying that nothing ever goes wrong in creation. We know that species of animals disappear and flowers fade and die. But He invites us to look at creation and see the life around us as an expression of God’s love. He does not want us to be anxious about “tomorrow” – or the future – but to trust in God’s love.

About forty years ago I was asked by the Superiors to go to the Philippines to teach Church History for three months. The seminary had unexpectedly lost their Church History teacher and they needed someone who could teach in English. I told them I would be happy to go. Two months before I was scheduled to leave I discovered that one of my sisters had cancer of the brain and did not have long to live. I felt like I was in a bind. I very much wanted to be with my sister when she died, but I knew that the seminary was depending on me to come. I was tempted to call off the teaching. But I phoned my friend in Baltimore (the mother of nine children) and told her of my dilemma. She asked: “did the Superiors as you to go?” I said: “yes”. She then asked: “do you trust God?” I gulped and said: “I think so.” So I went to the Philippines and returned as soon as I finished teaching. I arrived home just five days before she died. We had time together. One evening we gathered the family (her siblings and her three sons) and had a Home Mass during which she received Communion (Viaticum). She went into a coma after talking with each of her sons and then died the following morning.

So, do I trust God? I can say “now more than ever”.

Larry Nemer SVD