MT 6:24-34
Dear Friends. A lot of things happened to me in the fourth grade that really impacted my views latter in life. In fact, they gave me a twenty year head start on Vatican II. One of the most memorable involved prayer. I remember one particular week Sister Julie Anne had the class say three Hail Marys each day for a Notre Dame victory. On that Saturday Notre Dame lost to Army (The Military University) 59-0!I had a lot of questions for God after that. Those questions and a good education led me to another Saturday forty years later. Some of my pious friends, and also rabid ND fans like me, asked me to say a prayer to the Blessed Mother for a victory. I said it was not possible for her because she was too busy with the victims of the gangs in El Salvador.
Maturing in prayer is a journey. Today’s passage about confidence in God hits at the heart of what is our goal in the prayer of petition.
One of the great things about prayer, no matter how misdirected, is that it helps us grow in awareness of our dependence on God. The Scriptures assist us to gradually understand that this dependence on God is a beautiful and liberating gift. It draws us into the truth that God has a better plan.
So much of our prayer is directed to our own wishes. One of the central messages of the Sermon on the Mount and today’s passage is God’s better plan. When we pray as the Sermon proclaims a few verses before today’s passage, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” we truly are asking God’s help for us to participate in seeking God’s plan. We are asking that we open ourselves to let God be God and let no creature distort us from that gracious and loving God.
The issue, once again, is one of the heart, inner authenticity. This is a constant theme in the Sermon. We need to find our security in God and not in possessions. Growth in true prayer helps us put God at the center. It lets us gradually move away from worry and anxiety. This is a process that demands continual transformation of our values and priorities.
This is our problem. The human heart is an idol making machine. Matthew is using Jesus’ words to teach us that we are so much more important in God’s eyes than the lilies of the field and the beautiful birds of the sky. We do not need idols for our security. “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him. (I Cor 2:9)
God’s Kingdom, proclaimed by Jesus, is the fullest and must absolute expression of God’s loving plan. Near the end of today’s passage we are told “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be yours besides.” Jesus is teaching us to make no small plans. Get in touch with the big one where God truly knows what is best for us!
