Either/Or
October 3, 2023
Fr. John Riccardo
“Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you”
Phil 4:6-9
I have found incredible comfort and consolation in The Surrender Novena. It’s a very simple, yet powerful, collection of short exhortations from Jesus to an Italian priest and the frequent refrain, “O, Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything.”
Everything.
The words of St. Paul this coming Sunday should remind us of several words Paul presumably knew from Jesus. First, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life” (Mt 6:25). Why? Because your heavenly Father is a good Father, and He knows our needs. If He provides for the grass and the birds of the air, how much more those made in His image and likeness and for whom He sent His only begotten Son? Second, shortly before Jesus entered into His Passion, He told the apostles, “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn 14:27). How does the world give peace? By eliminating all conflict. The peace Jesus gives, in contrast, can be present even in the midst of conflict, turmoil, and unknowns.
Lest we think the Christian message is all rainbows and unicorns, it’s worth reminding ourselves where Paul is as he writes these words to the Church in Philippi. He’s in prison. Not a county jail with three square meals, indoor plumbing and some degree of heating and cooling. A first century Middle Eastern prison; with no food, unless some friends or family bring it to him; no running water; and nothing to keep him warm except the clothes on his back. And still he can say, “Have no anxiety at all.”
It would seem these words of Paul, and Jesus, are incredibly timely right now. Peace seems to be in short supply these days, whereas anxiety is off the charts. A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that 27% of respondents in a federal survey had symptoms of an anxiety disorder, up from 8% in 2019. In the same story they reported that half of 18- to 24-year-olds report anxiety or depression symptoms. One noted scholar and author, speaking about the mental health crisis taking place in our country, observed, “Depression isn’t only about feelings. It’s about cognition; it’s about thinking. It’s about how you see the world.”
So, how do you and I see the world? Do we see Jesus as Lord and the world in His hands, or do we see it all as just spiraling out of control?
Perhaps one practical thing that could help many of us is to be more careful about what we put into our minds. “Whatever is true,” Paul says, “whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious…think about these things.” Most of the media content we put into our minds, at least most of what I put into mine, don’t pass the muster here. And not just secular media. Much of the reporting about the Church, from Catholic media outlets, seems interested in stirring up unrest, fear, anxiety, anger, confusion, and more. There might be more peace and less anxiety in our lives if we curb our media intake. That’s not to suggest that we should be ignorant about what’s going on. It is to suggest that at the end of the day, it would seem to be a simple either/or.
Either I trust God or I don’t. And not just with the small stuff but with the big stuff: the future of the country, the Synod in Rome, our children, our own lives, His faithfulness.
To know God as our good Father; to know that Jesus is Lord and that He is not anxious, fearful or nervous about anything right now; to know that God knows what He is doing, is to have “the peace that passes all understanding.”
There are going to be constant, relentless, ongoing threats to this peace in the days, weeks and months ahead. Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus; moderate what we put into our minds; pray for one another; and ask the Lord to make us attractive witnesses to those around us who do not know that God is good, so that they might be rescued from the nightmare that is life apart from Him.