Everything belongs to God

WORD 2day: Thursday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time

September 1, 2022: 1 Corinthians 3: 18-23; Luke 5: 1-11

During the Eucharistic Celebration, post the Lord's prayer, there is a section where the priest prays 'save us from all distress'. In the old version of the missal, the words used to be, 'free us from all anxiety'. Some of my priest friends for sounding novel and practical would change it as, free us from all needless anxiety... and I would pick an argument with them - for a Christian every anxiety is needless! Every anxiety is needless because everything belongs to God.

No anxiety, whether about eating or drinking, life or death, success or fear, nothing, absolutely nothing is warranted if I truly believe in my Lord. If I beleive in the Lord, and if I beleive that the Lord is almighty and that I am loved by my God... it logically follows that the Lord will take care of everything and the Lord is capable of everythin - and where does anxiety come from? It comes from the fact that I think that everything depends on me, on my capacity! The more I depend on my capacity, the more anxious I have to be, because I would not know when I will fail - I am not omnipotent. But the liberating fact is to realise that God is in control, not me!

The Lord is in control... all that I need to do is my duties to the best of my abilities and leave the rest to God. Call it Nishkama Karma, or detachment, or Kantian categorical imperatives... be the title what it may, the point is: God is in charge and I need not worry or be anxious. It is a difficult mindset but the most liberating one. I can save myself of so much of anxiety. if only I grow convinced of the fact that God is in control of everything, because everything belongs to God!