27 OT A ~ "Have no Anxiety at All" ~ Rev. Richard Eslinger, PhD.
As this community gathered to join in Mass this morning (this afternoon) we
brought heaps of concerns with us. Some of us, particularly among young adults, women, and the gay community, may bring heavier burdens of anxiety. Anxiety
attacks, the need for anti-anxiety medication, and phobias that limit the fullness of life also come along with some as we gather for worship. In some ways, we may well be a cross section of the people in our community, in our region, in our nation.
We know that the levels of anxiety that need treatment only keep elevating, even
after the Covid pandemic is over. Then, too, we live in the midst of a culture that is in a kind of cold war with itself. The “sides” in this political warfare hammer at each other every day and every night. Political anger and even rage have become normal in many places, and attack ads now seem the way we engage in political campaigning. And along with our community, we are afflicted with other symptoms of personal and communal anxiety.
Some turn to “comfort eating” (or over-eating) while others self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. In all of this, we bring with us the traits and tendencies we share with our larger context. We are an anxious people and the levels of anxiety seem only to be increasing.
In the midst of this escalating, anxious season, we now hear St. Paul
pronouncing to us one simply instruction. “Have no anxiety,” he says. No, not any
anxious moments, the Apostle urges! It seems an odd thing to say, considering that Paul was being held in prison in Rome and would soon be martyred for his faith. Odd, too, that he writes these words to the small, struggling church at the Roman colony of Philippi. But these words seem out of sorts to us as well. “What, have no anxiety in the midst of a people whose actions and habits make for attacks on any sense of sense and well-being?” In fact, this Paulione admonition may sound something like those words of wisdom pronounced by friends or neighbors who are anxious to help us through tough times. “You must keep a positive attitude,” they say. “Don’t let things get you down.” Either St. Paul is among these “keep up a good front” or, perhaps, he is onto something entirely different.
If the former, then the Apostle joins with the chorus of others who urge a “positive” kind of thinking. Remember when Robert Schuller wrote a book titled “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do”? On the back page of this book, an editor had scrolled, “All of us have problems, but through this book Schuller show you how to build a positive self-image and emerge a winner.” 11 The chore is to turn your face and confront any personal problems that face you—illness, poverty, fear of unjust persecution, the list goes on. But the lasting power of a tough person armed with possibility thinking will overcome any and all stormy blasts.
Of course, after the fall of the house of Schuller, it was revealed that “toughness” is not always our foundation in tough times. Some tough times do seem to last and to win out. Of course, now the Diocese of Orange County’s Christ Cathedral has taken the place of the Crystal Cathedral, and the community of worship and ministry there embraces peoples of many cultures and rich gifts. Still, the question must be asked as to the truth and endurance of such “possibility thinking,” especially in our 21 st century world.
Where are we now regarding such a call to endurance in the face of adversity? Well, Paul didn’t just leave matters with his statement, “Have no anxiety at all.” Instead, he immediately bids his Christian friends at Philippi to bring all their requests, all their heartfelt petitions to God. And Paul does not stop at this insistence that they continue in their petitions and intercessions to their God.
He adds that they need to be weaving their petitions in with thanksgiving. If this
sounds very much like what we are about at this Mass, then we are on the right
track. Our petitions and intercessions are gathered together in the Mass we are
celebrating, centering in the Prayer of the Faithful itself. But did you ever consider
how many other words and actions in the Mass also involve petitions and embody
intercession? In the Kyrie Eleison, we acclaim the Lord and ask for his mercy.
The Collect in the Mass for the Dead petitions God that the deceased, “when the
day of resurrection comes, be united with you in glory.” St. Paul then comingles
the prayers of thanksgiving with our intercessions.
The sacramental core of the Mass comes at the Eucharistic Prayer. We begin with this dialogue:
Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Then, in language filled with joy, we offer thanksgiving to the Father of our Lord,
Jesus Christ. We joyfully feast on His precious Body and drink from the cup of
salvation. Here and now, we live out the Apostle’s command that we raise our
prayers and petitions to God, while never ceasing to praise our Triune God with
thanksgiving.
St. Paul now moves on to invite us to be a community of character, living
virtuously in ways that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious. We are,
Paul urges, “to think about these things” in our personal life and in our life together in Christ. More literally, Paul calls us to “keep tally” of all these things: set them up as our primary virtues and graces. A Benedictine preacher at the Pluscarden Abbey in Scotland recently noted that the virtues Paul names “derive at least in part from the pagan Greek moralists.” But he adds that we people of faith in Christ will not scorn wisdom whatever its source. He adds,
So a Christian will tend to find encouragement wherever it’s to be found,
even if that be in most unlikely places. Our religion is certainly counter-
cultural; ever more so these days; but there is nothing in it that is anti-
human. 2
But then, the question comes naturally to us as we try to “tally up” these
graces—being true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious--for ourselves. How
do we exemplify these practices and graces in our life together? As we reflect on
these virtues, we may begin to reflect on the saints, both ancient and modern, who embody such graces. But that project awaits us in one month when we celebrate All Saints in a festal liturgy. So for now, one answer comes to mind for Catholic Christians, and many others. It is the Blessed Virgin Mary who comes with such beauty, purity, grace, and justice. Her Magnificat and her life sing of these qualities. Our Scottish Benedictine homilist sums up this insight.
Mary is lovely, beautiful, lovable, attractive, pleasing, admirable, full of
grace, in body and mind and soul and spirit. When we look at her, we
instinctively smile. Mary our Mother teaches us how to pray. She teaches us
also how to live in Christ; how to put aside our anxieties; how to direct our
whole lives towards heaven; how to enter God’s peace. 3
Therefore, in this Marian spirit and as a benediction to his word to the Philippians,
St. Paul adds, “Then the God of peace will be with you.” Not in fretful cares and
anxiety, but in peace, joy, and thanksgiving. Thanks be to God, and to His Son,
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
1 Robert Schuller, Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!, New York: Bantam Book, 1984.
2 The Monks at Pluscarden Abbey, “Homily for Sunday 27A, Philippians 4:6-9,” October 4, 2020,
3 Ibid.
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