God Will Take Care of You
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Christian life is one that finds its first and final recourse in God. God is a good Father; and as a good Father, He takes care of and provides for His children.
Israel was not known for its unwavering fidelity to God. In fact, the entire narrative of salvation history is one of Israel going through cycles of obedience and blessing to disobedience and suffering, only to repent and return to the love of YHWH in obedience. Yet, God, omniscient as He is, still declared that “On the mountain height of Israel, I will plant [you]” (Ezekiel 17:23a).
This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the love of the Father that we must know and remember: God is faithful because He is a faithful Father; not because you and I have earned that faithfulness. We can no more earn God’s providence and love than we can make the sun rise and set each day. Israel was well aware of this, and when they sang, “[we] proclaim your love at daybreak, your faithfulness in the night” (Psalm 92:3), it was because the whole nation was proclaiming a love that they knew full well they never deserved and was immensely grateful to have.
God wants to take care of us. He wants to provide for us. He wants to lavish His love on us. Yet, like a good Father, there are family conditions for us to receive His love. We cannot call ourselves children if we aren’t willing to become true members of His covenant family through baptism. We cannot call ourselves good children if we do not honor the family commandments that bring about the flourishing of this covenant family life. And we certainly cannot receive His blessings and providence if we cut ourselves off from His life. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor 5:10). We understand all this on the natural level for human families, how much more so for the divine family of God?
When we hear the loving words of our Father as He speaks to us, calling us to deeper life in the covenant family with Him, His Word becomes a true seed within our hearts, calling us to union with Christ, His Son. All who unite themselves to Christ enjoy the great blessing of eternal life. People who experience Jesus just want to be ever closer to Him and to draw everyone they know to Him as well. This is what true love looks like.
When we look at Mark 3, it is clear that by this point, Jesus can no longer teach within the boundaries of small towns because of the sheer size of the crowds that followed Him, so He would frequently use open areas around the Sea of Galilee as the places where He taught the crowds. He often taught in parables, not simply because there is a hiddenness to parables, but also because Christ was the Master at showing how the Gospel came alive in all the everyday experiences of the people. His “kingdom parables” helped His disciples shape the understanding of the Kingdom of God that He was inaugurating.
Ultimately, the Kingdom is the Church. The Kingdom is where the King reigns. Because our King is most substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament, wherever He is made present is where the Kingdom is. The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is the Kingdom of Christ coming alive in all corners of the world! And the Kingdom of Christ IS the covenant family of the Father.
Let’s enjoy the blessing of being children of the Father and trusting our Father to provide and care for us. “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” 1 Peter 5:7).
Deus Benedicat