New Beginnings on This 17th Sunday after Pentecost

We continue with our recent focus on New Beginnings, on this 17th Sunday after Pentecost. Father Gerald Vann will remain our spiritual guide. And we'll recall our recent suggestion that we could be in for some troubling times as we work our way through the fall. Again, whether these unfold as we outlined right away or not, and to what degree we experience them isn't the point. The point is they're coming and we want to be prepared.

Our New Beginning theme is intended to help refresh our minds, hearts, and souls. Ideally we'll have the physical, mental, and spiritual energy to deal with whatever comes, whenever it comes. Add to this the understanding that, ultimately, all that unfolds will be according to God's Plan. And, of course, we know that ultimately, the grace of God will see us through.

Today's passage begins with a focus on the saints. They knew better than anyone that we need to always live with this understanding. 

“Omnia in manu Dei sunt: all things are in the hand of God. Have you noticed how the saints always seem to be at their gayest when things go wrong? And why is it? Surely because they have just that faith in the plan, and in the Love that makes the plan. And when there is suffering for them, well, that too is part of the plan, and so to suffer is for them a privilege: it is part of that total work which is the saving of mankind, the song of love. And so they never waste time and energy brooding over the past or fussing over the future: they live in the present, they get on the immediate job that God gives them to do; and they leave lovingly in His hands the question of whether it shall be a success or a failure.    

“They live in the present. So often we forget the importance of each present moment: so fleeting that it seems of no importance, and yet, as we know, it is forever present to the eternity of God, forever present as an act of love and praise, or as a wastage and perhaps a betrayal. Live in the present: at this moment it is this job, this pain, this joy, that God gives me: then let me make of it as full and deep an act of praise as I can. So you cease to fret and worry, and so you find peace. Sometimes of course the job of the moment is the business of coping with worries; but worries are not the same thing as worrying; we cannot escape problems, but if they are God’s will for us, well, we can accept them as such and do our best with them without letting ourselves get hopelessly flustered, and the very willing of them as God’s will can in that case be a kind of peace.”

Those of us who know we should all be striving to be a saint, but who also know we're not there yet, may have been struck right away with the gaiety of saints in the face of troubles. Circling back to an understanding that all unfolds according to God's Plan, we see that a deep, abiding understanding of this opens our minds and hearts to such holy gaiety. And with that gaiety, neither the troubles we've known in the past, nor any anticipated troubles to come will pull us out of where we want to be every day all the time: in the present moment. Only there do we find any semblance of peace and tranquility in the face of troubles.

Of particular interest is this distinction between worries and worrying. The sort of troubles we outlined recently can easily be categorized as worries to be dealt with, either in preparation for their arrival or in having to deal with them once they do indeed arrive. We're not in the business of fooling ourselves that somehow these serious matters don't matter. They do. Accepting this reality for what it is is perfectly sane.

Saints didn't live an some sort of fuzzy la-la land. They knew worries. They recognized them quickly. And when they did, they didn't run for the hills or even procrastinate. They dealt with them expeditiously. Think of the stark, dramatic example of one of my patron saints, St. Joan of Arc. No explanation needed, right?

With the saints as our best example, we can deal with worries. And we can do so without be trapped in a cycle of worrying: a simple but substantive distinction that will go far for our theme of New Beginnings.

Happy Sunday!