Homily: Wednesday of the sever

 "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that."

One expression I learnt in Spanish is “primero Dios.” Literally, the words mean ‘God first’, which is used like the American expression, ‘God willing’.

Some of my Mexican friends would always add “Primero Dios” in expressing their thoughts about the future. It must be uniquely Mexican because I have not heard it used in other Spanish-speaking countries. There is also no similar equivalent in my native language or other Indian languages. 

I think it is a beautiful expression! Knowingly or unknowingly, they are expressing an attitude which is deeply rooted in their faith culture, that is to always surrender everything to God, to His most holy will. It is an attitude of recognizing that things may not always go according to our plan, and of accepting God’s plan above their own.

St. James, in his epistle, exhorts us to have the same attitude: "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that." 

We all have our plans for tomorrow or even further into the future. I once spoke to the CEO of a multinational company, and he told me his company already has plans for the next fifty years. That’s long.

Here in this parish, we do not even have a clear plan for the next ten years.

Is this prudent?

I think it is very important to have a plan, so that everyone knows what is the direction we are taking together, so that every individual affected will know how to contribute or be involved according to their roles. Without a plan, everyone will be doing their own thing, going their own way, and it will be a big mess. As a community, we will get no where.

So if we look carefully again at what St. James say, ‘we will do this or that’ is a phrase that means there is a plan, but which will be accomplished only if ‘God willing’.

So, do we need a plan?

Yes.

We plan and we execute following the plan, but we do not worry about the result. We do the work but we let God decide the end.

And by letting go of the result, we become less anxious, and we can focus better on the work. Let us focus on the journey, and not be overly concerned about the destination. Because if we walk the right path, we will surely end up in the right place.

‘Do not worry about tomorrow’ is Jesus’ advice to us. Only when we surrender everything to the will of God will we be truly free and will be able to live life to its fullest.

Let us plan our work, and work our plan but let God take charge of the end. Thy will be done. Primero Dios. Amen.