“PRAYER IS THE ANTIDOTE TO WORRY.” This is what a Meditation in the ANAWIM WAY
Booklet says reflecting on the words of Jesus Christ: “Do not worry about your livelihood, what you are to eat or drink or
use for clothing. Is life not more than
food? Is not the body more valuable than
clothes? Look at the birds in the sky.
They do not sow nor reap, they gather nothing into barns; yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are not you more
important then they? (Mt 6: 25-26)
To worry about the necessities of life here on earth seems to
be a natural human reaction. It is a
fact that one of the main responsibilities of a family man is to provide for
the material needs of his family. Hence,
he works for a living. When he is out of
job, he worries on how he could manage to meet his responsibilities. How then can we reconcile this observation
with the words of Jesus Christ?
I now recall a personal experience wherein prayer was the
antidote to my worry. When Martial Law
was declared in 1972, the head of the school where I was employed as Dean of
the College of Business Administration told us that our contract was now
terminated and we were given our last pay check. That pay check was just enough to provide for
a one month existence of a family of ten.
Hence, I was confronted with the problem of how I could provide for our
needs in the months thereafter. It was
then that I really prayed and begged for God’s help. Unexpectedly, the President of Divine Word
College of Laoag, Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Manaligod,SVD, came to see me at our residence
in San Fernando, La Union and offered the position of Dean of the College of
Business Administration in the Divine Word College of Laoag. Aside from my monthly remuneration, he added
some fringe benefits, like free housing facilities and free school fees for my eight
children. God, indeed, answered my
prayer.
The ANAWIM WAY Booklet further states that when we pray “ with a firm inner decision to accept the
Will of God, we grow in trust that God, Our Father, already knows all that we
need and somehow He will take care of us.”
In the abovementioned Gospel of St. Matthew, our Lord Jesus
Christ also says: “Seek first his
kingship over you, his way of holiness, and all these things will be given you
besides. Enough, then, of worrying about
tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of
itself. Today has troubles enough of its
own.” (Mt. 6:33-34)
For me, these words of our Lord Jesus Christ affirm my strong
conviction that God is Our Father. If, in all sincerity, we put ourselves at His disposal, do whatever He wants us to do
wholeheartedly, then, we have nothing to worry about. God will
surely provide.
By: Buddy Cagurangan
June 17,
2012
