Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I’m writing this on the Monday afternoon prior to the arrival of hurricane Idalia. I am not worried.

Make no mistake, I have a healthy respect for the destructive power of hurricanes. The eye of a storm passed over my childhood home when I was a boy. I have witnessed the continuing effects of Hurricane Katrina at a parish located in New Orleans’ 9th Ward. I’ve studied physics and fully understand the force that is generated by high winds and moving water.

Yes, Idalia may turn out to be a dangerous storm, but I am not worried because, over the years I have come to understand and believe Jesus’ injunction in the Sermon on the Mount. Beginning in Matthew 5:25, Jesus concludes with, “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.”

As we dig into this and other scripture passages, we see that Jesus makes a distinction between what, in our time, we’d call concern and worry. Concern deals with those things over which you have control. Worry is devoted to things outside of our control.

Take Idalia, for example. The staff met this morning and we talked about our preparations. There are several things we can do to minimize the potential for damage to our facilities and we made plans to address them. But once we do all the things that are within our control, Jesus tells us not to worry. That is, do not worry about the things that are outside of your control, and the list of things outside our control is staggeringly long.

I don’t control the path of the storm. I don’t control whether a gust of wind will topple a tree. I don’t control whether power will go out. I don’t control whether a roof will be damaged.

Do you see Jesus’ point? Will worrying about these things change them? Will worrying about these things help in any way? No. So why worry?

I will freely admit that this is not easy for everyone. My upbringing is clearly an advantage for me, and yet we must take Jesus seriously. He is our Lord. Most importantly, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and the absolute assurance that God will be with us during and after the storm.

As I conclude on this Monday afternoon, please know of my prayers for you during this week – especially for those who will feel frightened. Our human nature does not like the unknown, but God is known to us. May He be our comforter and guide.

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Most of us will be quick to say, “No!” Oh, we might admit to a bad habit, but we will also point out that we could stop at any time. We’re still in control.

That raises a question. If we are willing to admit the habit is bad, why do we keep doing it? We say we’re in control. If we are, and we know the habit is harmful to us in some way, why not stop?

In my experience – both personal and in conversations with others – this is where we start to minimize the issue. “Yes,” we might say, “I probably buy too many things online, but it’s not that many things and they’re all small things.” Or “Sure, maybe I drink a bit too much, but I never get overly drunk and I only drink after hard days.” Or “Everyone has something they use to get through the days. This is mine.” Or “Looking at those pictures and videos doesn’t hurt anyone. I’m not proud of it, but it’s not that big a deal.”

It is those kinds of thoughts that prevent us from doing anything to improve. We remove any incentive we might have to end our “bad habit.”

This is Safe Haven Sunday. For a fifth year our diocese has set aside this Sunday to address the destruction caused to individuals and families by pornography. We want to be reminded that this is serious sin – a gross misuse of a good gift that God has given to us all. It has victims. People get hurt. Marriages are harmed – sometimes irreparably.

Fortunately, there are things that can be done to rid ourselves of this or other lousy things we do. You’ll find some business-sized cards in the narthex that offer some assistance in dealing with pornography. (If we run out, we’ve printed them later in this bulletin.) If you are dealing with some other “habit” let me encourage you to do a little online searching. Start your search with “Behavior science” and then add an issue. For example, “behavior science overeating habits” led to a nice piece with helpful ideas to prevent overeating at meals.

God does not want us to be a slave to our habits (sin). Today may be the day, with God’s help, to begin to find freedom.

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin