because you are my strength.
6 (5) Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you will redeem me, Adonai, God of truth.
14 (13) All I hear is whispering,
terror is all around me;
they plot together against me,
scheming to take my life.
15 (14) But I, I trust in you, Adonai;
I say, “You are my God.”
16 (15) My times are in your hand;
rescue me from my enemies’ power,
from those who persecute me.
Saint CasimirMy trust is in you, O Lord. (Psalm 31:15)
What do you worry about? Health? Safety? Job security? Finances? Your children? We all have our lists. The world has no problem telling us how to handle these worries. It tells us to tackle the situation by working harder, getting extra training, buying better insurance, or figuring out how to influence people. It offers very self-oriented, self-focused responses that place our efforts and our fears at the forefront of our minds.
This kind of response seems to be at work in today’s Gospel reading. James and John are concerned about their future. Jesus has been talking about how he will be mocked, scourged, and crucified. What will that mean for these disciples? So they work with their mother to develop a long-term career plan. Now the mother and her sons ask Jesus to approve their proposal for James and John to be Jesus’ main men in his kingdom. While they seem to be doubling down on their commitment to Jesus, their real motives are self-centered.
Jesus takes this opportunity to remind all of the disciples that this isn’t his path. His is the path of humility, surrender, and trust. It’s the path of self-giving, not of self-protection. God doesn’t want us promoting our own interests. He wants us to follow his way of sacrificial love and to trust that he will care for our needs.
The problem with such a self-oriented approach is that it makes our worries our top priority and reduces our life with God to something we can tend to only in our free time. But Jesus is the most important One! As we reorder our lives to reflect the values of his kingdom, we find that our cares and worries lose their all-encompassing nature. We become more confident that God will care for us.
So what’s worrying you today? Are you trying to take care of it yourself? Or are you praying Psalm 31? Hand your destiny, your safety, your family over to the Lord. If you’re having trouble letting go, try to focus on Jesus’ love for you instead of whatever is causing anxiety. Ask him how you can imitate his love more fully, and let him take care of everything else.
“Lord, I trust you. Teach me how to live in your love.” Amen!
Jeremiah 18:18 Then they said, “Let’s develop a plan for dealing with Yirmeyahu. Torah won’t be lost from the cohanim, or counsel from the wise, or words from the prophets. So come, let’s destroy him with slander; and meanwhile, we won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
19 Pay attention to me, Adonai!
Listen to what my opponents are saying!
20 Is good to be repaid with evil?
For they have dug a pit [to trap] me.
Remember how I stood before you
and spoke well of them,
in order to turn your anger
away from them?
Matthew 20:17 As Yeshua was going up to Yerushalayim, he took the twelve talmidim aside by themselves and said to them, as they went on their way, 18 “We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the head cohanim and Torah-teachers. They will sentence him to death 19 and turn him over to the Goyim, who will jeer at him, beat him and execute him on a stake as a criminal. But on the third day, he will be raised.”
20 Then Zavdai’s sons came to Yeshua with their mother. She bowed down, begging a favor from him. 21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Promise that when you become king, these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left.” 22 But Yeshua answered, “You people don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” 23 He said to them, “Yes, you will drink my cup. But to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give, it is for those for whom my Father has prepared it.”
24 Now when the other ten heard about this, they were outraged at the two brothers. 25 But Yeshua called them and said, “You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators. 26 Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave! 28 For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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