19 Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2025
Growing up I was a worry-wort, in the worst possible way. If you wanted to torment me, all you had to do was tell me we were going somewhere, that I had not been, and not let me know where, what we would do there, or when we would get back. I had to; I still have to know the outcome of a situation ahead of time. I guess you could say that I’m not the most spontaneous person in the world. My kids would say I’m downright predictable.
Maybe that’s why I love project management. If I can plan it, put it into a Gant Chart, and know where it’s going and what it will be: I’m all in! I’m a list maker, an organizer, and a planner. My Outlook calendar scares people. My notes are even more intense.
I would have been a miserable person to be with on the night of the Passover. It would have not been ok with me to just trust that we would all wake up alive the next morning, just because Moses said we would fine if we ate the meal. I would not have done well to follow Abraham and Sarah around, because I would second guess everything.
I had to learn, over the years, to have more faith in God. And while I'm far from perfect today, I can say that I've improved a lot. I have a long-time friend, a priest in Mexico, who is probably the saintliest human being I've ever met. He has, over the years, constantly said one line to me, something very simple, something in everyday language, but that coming from him; with his life example of faith, grounds me every time. “No te preocupes.” “Don’t worry yourself.” Simple, right? Not so easy. It’s not the little things he refers to when he says this – it's always when things have gone horribly wrong around me. And it's always right after he says this that things end up spectacularly right. Always! So- why do I still doubt. Well, I’m Andy... and beyond that, I’m human.
But I shouldn’t. I should turn to God instead. I should lay all my worries on Him and trust in Him.
This is the message in the readings today. Trust in God. Stop worrying so much. Stop building up this idea that “If it's going to be ok, it's all going to be up to me.” Because that’s not the case.
The absolute worst “Christian” motivational line ever told is, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle”. It’s a lie! God gives us more than we can handle all of the time. What God doesn’t do is give us more than HE can handle with us. We just need to turn to Him. To put our faith in Him, to trust in Him.
Moses told the people that the Angel of Death was going to smite all the first-born children. But they would survive if they ate the Passover meal. God promised this. And you know what? God delivered on His promise. The first-born of the Jews who ate the Passover meal lived.
God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, even at 90 years old. And they did. And then, God told Abraham to have faith and sacrifice Isaac. Abraham trusted and Isaac was spared. So, guess what? He had made good on the promises.
Christ has told us that the Kingdom is at hand. That we should be prepared everyday as if it was our last. That He would come again soon.
We should trust in Him. God doesn’t have a history of breaking promises. It’s quite the opposite.
And so today, Christ is telling us that he will come again soon, very soon. And that we have no idea when, so we need to live prepared for His second coming. There is no time to waste. There is no reason to not build up Christ’s kingdom, to build up the Church, to raise up our fellow man to God, right now is the time. Because time is short, and it will come like a thief in the night. We do not know when Christ is coming, but we know that it is soon. So, why would we waste our time NOT being prepared to have him here, today, now?
We have faith that He will come. We have hope that He will come. And we must live our lives in such a way that we are ready.
I think the “embolism” the prayer after the Our Father, said by the priest/celebrant, is the best worded way to look at this simultaneous Trust and Anxiety that we have as we await Christ’s return.
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
This is what we should be praying, this is mentally where we should be, everyday: “keep us free from sin”, “and safe from all distress” (or I like the pre-2011 version - “protect us from all anxiety”) “as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Christ is coming. He will return. He will raise the dead to new life. He will usher in a New Heaven and New Earth. How do I know this? Because He said so – and He’s a God who keeps His promises.
What do I do until then? Keep my faith. Trust in the Lord. Give my life to Him, serving Him; focusing less on myself, less on worldly things, and more on Loving God and Loving Man. And when I lose my way, or when I doubt and have anxiety – turn back to Him. Run to Him. And place, once again, my Trust in Him.