Daily Archives: September 18, 2026

What if?

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Note: this homily is for the parish elementary school Mass using Is 46:6 and Matthew 6:25-33

There are two words that have more power than you imagine. These two words can make you nervous, keep you awake at night, and turn a perfectly good day into a day filled with worry. The two words are: “What if?”

What if my friend is mad at me? What if nobody wants to sit with me? What if I don’t get invited? What if I make a mistake and everybody laughs? What if I get in trouble? What if someone in my family gets sick? What if something bad happens? What if…?

Have you ever noticed how quickly one “what if?” can turn into another? “What if this happens? And then what if THAT happens? And then what if THIS happens?” Pretty soon, we are worrying about something that hasn’t even happened. And that is what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel when He says: “Do not worry about your life.”

Now, Jesus does not mean that you should never care about anything. He doesn’t mean, “Don’t worry about doing your homework” or “Don’t worry about studying for the test.” Jesus isn’t telling us not to be responsible; Jesus is talking about something different. He is talking about all those things we cannot control: all those “what ifs” that can fill our minds and make us afraid. 

Jesus says: Look around you. Look at the birds. They are busy little creatures, building nests, looking for food and taking care of their young. Jesus reminds us the God the Father in heaven knows what they need.

Then Jesus says: Look at the flowers. They don’t spend their day worrying: “What if I’m not the prettiest flower?” or “What if that flower over there is taller than I am?” or “What if nobody notices me?” They simply grow where God has planted them.

And then Jesus asks us a very important question: “Are not you more important than they?” In other words: “If God knows about the birds and the flowers, don’t you think God knows about you?”

Remember the words of the first reading from the prophet Isaiah: “I will carry you.” I love those words. God doesn’t say: “I’ll carry you as long as everything goes perfectly” or “I’ll carry you until you make a mistake” or “…until you have a really bad day.” God simply says: “I will carry you.” Now and “even when you are old and grey”

This is God’s promise: “I have been with you from the beginning. I am with you today. And when you are old and your hair is gray, I will still be with you.”

And that is God’s answer to our “what ifs.” What if tomorrow is difficult? God will be there.

What if I make a mistake? God will be there.

What if my friend lets me down? God will be there.

What if something happens that makes me sad or afraid? God will be there.

Jesus never promises that nothing difficult will happen. He promises that whatever happens, you will not face it alone.”

So the next time those two little words, “what if”,  show up, remember today’s Gospel. Do what you can do today. Be kind, responsible, helpful and loving; and let God take care of tomorrow. 

So when ‘What if?’ comes into your mind, answer it with three other words: ‘God is here.’”

Amen.

Image credit: Created with Dalle-3 based on the text of the homily. Downloaded 9-15-2026

The Complaints

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This coming Sunday is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The workday is over and wages have been distributed. Not surprisingly, the workers in the vineyard who worked the whole day are less than pleased. Brian Stoffregen describes the three complaints of the first hired:

(1) They assumed they would receive more. The desire for more is usually considered greed, which undoubtedly led them to desire more than they had been promised, but I don’t think their real complaint was as much about the money as the other two listed below.

(2) You have made them equal to us. They assumed a hierarchy based on time worked, which should have been indicated by a difference in wages paid. They make a distinction between “us” and “them” and that “we” are better than “they.” “We” deserve more than “they.” Such a distinction is usually unhealthy for communities of faith.

(3) We have borne the burden of the day and the heat. They do not see their invitation to work (and wages earned) as a sign of grace, but as a burden to be borne. When living the Christian life is seen as a burden, the right perspective is elusive.

Robert Smith (Matthew, Augsburg Commentary) has this wonderful summary: “It is simply a fact that people regularly understand and appreciate God’s strange calculus of grace as applied to themselves but fear and resent seeing it applied to others.” [p. 236]  In a similar way, the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:23-35) suggested a great appreciation for God forgiving all of my sins; but a desire that God (and I) should punish all those who had sinned against me.

R.T. France (The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT [748-50]) writes:

“The story is as clear as it is unexpected. Whereas we take it for granted that harder work deserves a greater payment, this employer operates on a less conventional basis. The reader instinctively sympathizes with the aggrieved workers in vv. 11–12: it doesn’t seem fair. The retort of the landowner is of course technically correct: no one has been cheated; the agreement has been scrupulously observed. Why then do we still feel that there is something wrong? Because we cannot detach ourselves from the ruling convention that rewards should be commensurate with the services rendered. When one man is “rewarded” far in excess of what has been earned while another receives only the bare sum agreed, we detect unfair discrimination.”

“But the kingdom of heaven does not operate on the basis of commercial convention. God rules by grace, not by desert. The “rewards” which this gospel has so persistently spoken of (see on 5:3–10, 11–12; 6:1–6, 16–18, 19–21; 10:41–42; 19:27–29) are not earned, nor are they proportionate to human effort. The God who lavishly clothes the flowers and feeds the birds (6:26–29) delights to give his servants far more than they could ever deserve from him. It is that principle, rather than the disappointment of the whole-day laborers, which is the main focus of the parable, but their very natural disappointment and sense of unfairness helps the readers to re-examine how far their reactions are still governed by human ideals of deserving rather than by the uncalculating generosity of the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom in which the first are last and the last first there is no room for envious comparisons.”

Image credit: Laborers in the Vineyard, icon | Public Domain | found on Flickr Fr. Ted