Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We all face dilemmas from time to time in dealing with those anxious moments, those panic times when we’re forced to ask ourselves, “What really is important in my life?”  These are the moments which the poet Robert Frost knew about when he found that “two roads diverged in a wood” and he felt sad that he could not travel both.

Jesus also knew those anxious moments, when two diverged for him: one to superficial glory and the other a “road less traveled.”  Because he was “one like us,” he knew those terrible moments of choice.  Jesus knew what it means to feel the pangs of a divided heart.  But he also knew that you simply cannot serve two masters; you simply cannot worship more than one God.

Jesus didn’t condemn his disciples for being overly anxious.  He looked at them tenderly and said “O weak in faith.”  Jesus knew that they were not wicked unbelievers, but disciples who were tempted to panic in a moment of crisis and forget what comes above everything else: trust in a God who loves us as a mother loves the children of her womb.

Jesus recognized the fact that food, drink, clothing and all the other “essentials” of life must be grappled with.  His challenge was not to deny our physical and psychological needs, but to stop us from being gobbled up by all these things.  His challenge was to remind us to worship only one God who loves us not only with a Father’s love but with a Mother’s love as well.

We live in a very demanding world.  On Wednesday we will have our faces smudged with ashes and begin once more the season of Lent.  In a way, Lent is all about asking who and what are most important in our lives.  And certainly that’s good health.  So, let’s pray now for our sisters and brothers who are sick and for all who devote themselves to caring for them in our community.

May all those who wish to be anointed please now come forward with your caregivers who can place their hands on your shoulders, standing in front of the altar facing this assembly of faith, or in the front row facing the altar.

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor