Just Trust

Our lives are lightened by people we can trust. We need to trust so much in life. We know the great pain when our trust is shaken by people we thought we could trust — parents/ teachers/ religious superiors/ the church/ friends and more. In the gospel today Jesus addresses that need and grace in our lives.

He encourages us to place our trust in those who care for us, and to trust in God who does not want destruction but development, who wants peace among people in all sorts of ways. In what do we trust? Pagola writes: ‘some feel a need to consume more in order to feel secure; and seek a life of entertainment to forget their everyday problems’ (The Gospel According to Matthew).

Jesus tells us to trust in God, who would not harm even a hair of our head. He asks and urges us to be people who would not harm another. We are worth this care and love just by being created. Like a parent or grandparent or an aunt or uncle, totally loving a new child before the child is even seen, so God loves each of us. The sight of a starving child brings out our love and a desire to care.

This is linked to the care of God: in this care and trust of each other we find the trust and care of God given and received for ‘where there is love, there is God’ (1 John 3:7).

Just echo the word ‘trust’ as you sit in silence;
let this gift and call of trust fill your being.
Sacred heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

This is a new stage in Jesus’ ministry. He begins the setting up of his foundational community of the Twelve Apostles, calling each by their own name and sending them off on their mission.
Notice the name Judas Iscariot, no cover up here. Jesus accepts our fallen human natures even though our community historically were inclined to deny (or conveniently ‘forget’) their actions for the ‘good‘ of the community.

We can identify with : Jesus himself the caring leader, parent, teacher, spiritual guide, even friend as he prepares them for future trials or The Apostles: church communities working out our mission statement together in this ever changing and challenging world, spreading the coming of God’s kingdom on earth through us.

Notice also Jesus emphasis on the free sharing of the Gospel with others and how we all can play our part in that.
– Giving our service humbly, freely and generously to all who come our way without demanding gratitude, or power over them.
– or  heaping  ‘obligations’ on them
– or demanding others become members of our communities.

The feast today highlights the central place of the Eucharist in Christian life, our faith that God becomes present in a real way in ordinary bread and wine – food for the journey of life in the bread, energy and joy for the journey of life in the wine, and the wine of the coming of the Lord. Bread and wine were very much part of the ordinary food of the people of his time, and also of their religious life. People would remember the bread in the desert and the wine of the coming of the Lord.  

Each time we come to Mass, we take part in a real way in the death and resurrection of the Lord, The sacrifice of Christ on the cross and his resurrection is ‘made present’ among us. It is a place and time of grace.

So our Eucharist today is not just to commemorate something that happened many years ago. It is our commitment to Christ in his people, and our faith in his real presence among us in the Eucharist and in each other.

Jesus ask us to share the bread and cup, to proclaim this ‘mystery of faith’ for all time. We proclaim today that the Jesus of the tabernacle is the Jesus within all of us. Let’s be amazed that within each of us, God dwells in Jesus Christ.

Recall moments when receiving communion
gave you strength in your life.
Lord, I believe in your presence in the Eucharist.
Strengthen my belief.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J