Welcome to our parish

17 November 2019              33^rd Sunday Year C

SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT?

We can always find reasons to worry, even when there’s nothing to worry about. Some people love to be frightened into thinking that every flood, hurricane, war or earthquake is somehow a sign that the end of the world is about to hit us. They love to have something to worry about.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells us to be worried about three things. But they’re not the ones we expect to hear.

First, he tells us to worry about being deceived. Make sure you’re not taken in by claims about the end of the world. If you believe that the predictions of Nostradamus or the prophecies of Malachy are true then it’s time to give in. You should worry, says Jesus, if you’re enticed by these claims to know about the future, by rumours, apparitions of gloom, or plagues and revolutions as forerunners of the end of the world. Yes, worry. Because if you put your trust in these predictions (which are always explained away when they fail to deliver) then you’re far away from trusting in God’s promises. You’ve already been tricked.

Secondly, worry about letting people disturb you. The fact that terrorists exist doesn’t mean that one lives next door to you. The fact that people get shot and knifed doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen to you or your family. The fact that new strains of diseases come into being does not mean that half the world is about to be wiped out. Start to worry, says Jesus, when you begin to fear that natural disasters have a sinister meaning. All sorts of fearful things take place in this world, but your endurance will win you your lives.

Thirdly, Jesus implicitly tells us to worry if we find that we’ve become distracted. Today’s gospel is a plea to get things into perspective. Where are our priorities? Are we living our lives eating and drinking, so caught up in the ordinariness of daily existence, planning how to spend our lottery win, how to improve our garden and how to get the latest i-sound that we have lost the plot? If you want something to worry about, then worry about how you are preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus. Or maybe that’s not as interesting as worrying about nothing or worrying about something that will never happen?

Take care not to be deceived because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand.“ Refuse to join them.                                       (Luke 21: 8)