Pauline Anxieties

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
One of the main goals of the Year of St. Paul that we are now in is that we will be able to understand more clearly how St. Paul’s writings apply to us, today, even 2000 years after they were written. But with readings like the one we heard from St. Paul this evening/morning, and with what’s going on in the real world these days, it’s not so easy to make the connection. The first words out of St. Paul’s mouth today: “Brothers and sisters, have no anxiety at all” (Philippians 4.6a). St. Paul clearly never invested in the Stock Market or tried to get a loan from a bank. He never had to figure out how to pay for gas with prices like they are today. He never had to worry where he was going to get the money to pay his health insurance or medical bills, or how he was going pay tuition for his children to attend a good college or a Catholic school. He never had to worry about whether his job would still exist six or twelve months from now. How can he dare to tell us not to be anxious about anything? This whole idea that St. Paul – or any of the Scriptures – can be relevant for our lives just can’t be true. They had no idea what it would be like to live and try to survive in the year 2008.

But let’s take a step back. As it turns out, Paul did have much to be anxious about. When he wrote the letter to the Philippians, he was in prison, facing a charge that could condemn him to death if he were found guilty. Paul had faced strong opposition and direct rejection in his work, the work of spreading the gospel, even from people who had initially welcomed and supported him. He sometimes thought that he was failing in the mission that God had given him; there were quarrels and disputes in the Christian communities he had founded, and because he was so far away from these communities, there was very little he could do to make things better. As it turns out, Paul had much to be anxious about – maybe not the financial concerns of an economic crisis, but anxieties that were just as real and just as significant.

And in the midst of all that anxiety, Paul has one very specific piece of advice, advice that he gives both to the Philippians and to us: pray. When you find yourself anxious – whatever that may be – sit down, figure out what you need help with, and “make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4.6b). Turn everything over to God in prayer and petition. And if you do this, Paul says, then you will find a peace that is so deep and mysterious that it can only come from God. Now, he doesn’t say that God will give you everything you ask for exactly the way you want it – but what God is guaranteed to give you is the peace and comfort that will see you through any trial, any anxiety, no matter what happens. God will always take care of you, and if you take your requests to him in prayer, then he will give you the sense of peace that all will be well.

Maybe St. Paul does have something to say to us today. Even if he didn’t have to worry about the state of his retirement savings, of the stability of his checking account, St. Paul lived each day not knowing what the next day would bring. And his advice really is a good idea – present your needs to God, and remember: God will provide for all that you need. So don’t worry about what you are to eat, or what you are to wear (see Matthew 6.25-34), have no anxiety at all, because the one thing in this world that never changes is God’s love and care for each of his children.