The Importance of Repentance and Reconciliation
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“So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,[s] and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. (MT 6:31-34)
One would think that, in today’s world, there would be enough to deal with in the segment of time called “today”. A pithy expression comes to mind: “Yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a mystery” Today is the present and is a “present” that is given to us by God. We are told not to worry about tomorrow in the above pericope, and not to worry at all about all the “things the pagans seek”. But what exactly did Jesus mean about the evil of each day? Perhaps the Catechism of the Catholic Church can shed some light on the mystery of evil:
“If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin, and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments, and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.” (CCC 309)
If we take the segment of time that bears the designation of “today” as a reality that is complete unto itself, we can accept both good and evil as being under the watchful eye of our Heavenly Father. A reworking of the title of this piece could be “Sufficient For a Day is its Own Good and Evil”
Deacon Greg Lambert was ordained in 1997, in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, and currently serves at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Tampa, Florida.. Deacon Greg assists in the areas of RCIA, Adult Faith Formation, and Sacramental Preparation. In addition to his service at the parish level, Deacon Greg is a staff member of Diakonia newsletter for the diaconal community of the diocese. He is also part of the teaching faculty for the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute which has accredidation from the USCCB. His articles have been published in Deacon Digest Magazine, Catholic Stand, Diakonia and Catholic365. He has a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Theology from St. Leo University.
