Grace Under Pressure (Mid-week Message)

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

Grace under Pressure

April 1, 2020

My mother used to make a joke of her wanting to buy things in advance of needing them:  “I’ve got to get to the store and stock up on things before those hoarders (!) get them!” Many of us are a little flummoxed by the occasional shortage of items in the stores when we brave going out in this time of trying to stay home. We end up resenting “those hoarders!”    

We are under pressure now that we are realizing that physical distancing may last another month or more, and what we thought was going to be a sprint is in fact a marathon. But remember that courage is best defined as “grace under pressure.” 

In thinking about shortages or worrying about what tomorrow may bring, remember the words of Jesus:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19-21)

“Ask, and God will give; search, and you will find; knock, and God will open the door to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, God opens the door. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:7-11)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for God’s Reign, and the justice it demands, and God will give you everything else as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matt 6:25-34). 

Grace and Peace. 

Fr. Tony+