ANXIETY
Updated: Sep 30
Pope Leo XIV is in France.
An 80,000-seat stadium was ‘chock-a-block’ with young people. Tickets sold out in one hour. I kid you not. A young man asked the pope:
What do I do with my anxiety?
The pope answered:
Gratitude.
Can the pope be taken seriously?
Anxiety is writ large in our time. What are the causes? They are legion.
Will gratitude fix the problem? Maybe. Just maybe.
Let’s take Jesus as an example shall we?
During his passion he suffers physically.
He is literally slaughtered like an animal. He is literally the ‘Lamb of God.’
During his passion he suffers psychologically.
St. Luke says his ‘sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground’ (Luke 22:44).
St. Mark, the most dramatic of the Gospels – in my humble opinion – has this to say about Jesus’ agony in the garden:
He began to be utterly dismayed and deeply distressed (Mark 14:33).
It is miraculous that just prior – in the Last Supper – Jesus gives thanks for his passion and death which occurs next day.
Jesus gives thanks.
Gratitude in the midst of anxiety – utter and distressing anxiety.
Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.
Shall we give it a go? Why not!
AMEN.
