Living for God
Saturday 7th August 2021
Jesus speaks in a very challenging manner when he states not to worry about life. There is that constant danger of becoming immersed in the affairs of the world. There is the risk we take when we spend too much time in the pursuit of worldly goods. The problem facing us is that the world we live in encourages us to set our hearts on acquiring more and more and to seek security in possessions. It so easily becomes a vicious circle because the more we have the more we want. A time will come when everything we own and cherish dearly will have to be left behind. Hence, we worry about life.
This Sunday and every August 8, is the feast day of St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop as Australia's first canonized saint. She reminds us through her life that we can achieve a detachment from material goods with an invitation to a lifestyle based on simplicity and dependence on God. This will mean standing back and turning our thoughts heavenwards so we can get our priorities right as she did. She famously told her sisters, "Do not see a need and do nothing about it." St. Mary was conscious of the needs of the people around her. There was a need for care, basic education, and for food and she dedicated her life to doing something about those needs, heroically and most effectively.
As we are all stewards of creation, we are to make good use of of our human resourcefulness and plan our lives in a responsible manner. Worry and anxiety which arise from being overly concerned with our own welfare and security are such a wasted effort and betray an outlook which is not based on a deep faith. They take all the joy from life and wear out mind and body. Trust in God gives us a freedom of heart, a deep inner peace and a realisation that we are loved. St. Mary of the Cross, pray for us.
Stay well and safe.
Fr. Arsenio