When we are facing difficulties in life, when we are struggling to make ends meet, when we are confronted with life’s tragedies, when we suffer it can often seem like God has forsaken us and has forgotten that we are his children. We feel lost and alone in the worries and anxieties of life. The prophet Isaiah expresses this existential loneliness for the children of Israel, “Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”” (Is. 49,14) When darkness descends upon us, it seems like the light itself has forgotten us. “If the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.” (Mt. 6,23) When we suffer, it seems to us that there is no joy in the world. When our hands are empty, it seems like all our hope has been in vain. The world around us seems to be a God-forsaken wilderness. Our life seems to be imprisoned in Sheol, the place abandoned by God. Jesus himself experienced this existential void in his suffering on the cross when he cries out to the Father in the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27,46) God, the Father of mercy, responds with a simple promise in Isaiah, “I will never forget you.” (Is. 49,15)

The question that is hidden in our hearts is not, “Why has God forgotten me?” but, rather, “Why would God take any notice of me? Why would God remember me?” We see our lives as small and insignificant in the vast scheme of the universe. We drift away from God and wonder if he even notices that we are gone. We set out on our own in life and soon we feel forgotten and alone among the “much” and the excesses of life. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that among the “much” of life, we are “more”. “Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Mt. 6,25) “Are not you more important than they (the birds)?” (Mt. 6,26) “Will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?” (Mt. 6,30) Worry and anxiety will not add anything to our lives but faith in God will. James shows us the way home to God, “So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4,7f)

I am certain that there are a good many people experiencing a great deal of anxiety in our world today. However, worrying about something never changed a thing. The only results that worry has produced in our world is a greater number of psycho-somatic illnesses. The origin of many of today’s diseases can be traced to stress. Worrying about something is not going to make the world a better place, it will only make you a medical mess. In the Gospel, Jesus challenges us with the insanity of worrying, “Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?” (Mt. 6,27) So much of our life is wasted on worry. That is not what the Lord has created us for. He did not give us the gift of life so that we might have one more thing to worry about.

St. Teresa of Avila gives us a beautiful prayer that expresses her deep faith in God’s goodness and power, “Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God. God alone suffices.” Our only true worry and concern is our relationship with God. Our greatest treasure is the treasure we have stored up in heaven and it is there that our heart needs to be. When our heart is centered on heaven and upon God’s providential love and care for us then we can put everything else into its proper perspective. If we do our part, the Lord will do his part. Even in our weaknesses, God will give us the grace we need for the day.

So often we want to see things “up front”, we want assurances, we want control but God gives us only love and that love and grace should be sufficient for us. Faith is our assurance. Therefore, as Jesus tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” Our concern is the kingdom of God – justice, peace, goodness, mercy and truth – if we have these things then we will have everything we need.