“Have no anxiety at all,” Saint Paul says. The first time I read this, I thought to myself, “Is he serious? Is that even possible? Have no anxiety at all?” I can understand not to get anxious about certain things: “Don’t sweat the small stuff” as the saying goes. But to have no anxiety at all? And Saint Paul isn’t just making a suggestion, like “try not to get anxious.” No. This statement is an imperative: it’s not a suggestion, it’s a commandment. And right before this he tells the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” This is where we get the theme for this Sunday that we call “Gaudete Sunday” which comes from the Latin word “Gaudete,” which means, “Rejoice.”
When we look at this reading along with the first reading from the prophet Zephaniah, we see that this theme of rejoicing is found there also. “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” But Paul and the prophet Zephaniah aren’t joyful because everything is going well for them. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
Zephaniah was called to prophesy about 700 years before Christ. The northern kingdom of Israel had recently been destroyed by Assyria and the people exiled and scattered throughout the lands. The southern kingdom of Judah had suffered a lot of destruction, too, and would soon be taken over by Babylon. The state of Judah was a mess. Immorality was rampant during the time of Zephaniah. The people had turned to idolatry, and the king of Judah had even sacrificed his own son to a pagan god. Most of the oracle of Zephaniah called for harsh judgment on the people of Judah for their sins. And yet we hear at the end of his prophecy what was proclaimed in the first reading we heard today. “Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! … Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!”
And when Saint Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians he was in prison, possibly expecting to be put to death. And he tells them to rejoice always, and have no anxiety at all. And remember, he is commanding the Philippians to have no anxiety—at all—not to be anxious about anything! Where does he get this? Well, believe it or not, he probably gets if from Jesus.
In the Gospel of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks to the crowd about anxiety. He tells them “do not be anxious about your life, what your shall eat or what you shall drink” (Mt 6:25). He asks “Why are you anxious about clothing?” (6:28). And he says again, “do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (6:31). And finally, “do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself” (6:34). Six times in this section of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus uses the word anxiety—the same word Saint Paul uses—in telling his followers not to be anxious. Anxiety, according to Jesus, and to Saint Paul, displays a lack of trust in God to provide for us.
But Paul doesn’t just tell the Philippians to have no anxiety and then leave it up to them to figure out. He gives them a way that they can overcome anxiety. He tells them what to do: “Have no anxiety at all,” he says, “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” So what is the solution to anxiety? Well, according to Saint Paul, it’s prayer and petition, and thanksgiving. He says elsewhere, in his Letter to the Ephesians, to “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:18). And where was Paul when he wrote this letter? In prison.
So what Paul is telling us is that no matter the situation; good or bad; whether the economy is great or terrible; if we are in good health or poor health; if our children aren’t living in a way we think is right; and if it seems that the entire country has lost its moral compass; prayer and petition with thanksgiving is the remedy to our anxiety. Notice he doesn’t say that prayer will take your troubles away, but he offers it as a solution to anxiety and worry. And the word Paul uses for thanksgiving is eucharistia. Bringing everything we struggle with, all of our difficulties of this life—when we bring them to God in prayer through thanksgiving—eucharistia—that’s the solution to a life of anxiety according to Saint Paul. In other words, Paul is calling us to live a liturgical life.
Think about it: at the Mass when the gifts of bread and wine are brought forward along with the collection, this is when we also are to bring up all of our difficulties, sufferings, works, and anxieties, as well as our joys in life, and we offer them up in union with the offerings of Christ on the altar. This is why the priest says to begin the Eucharistic prayer: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”
This is why Paul also says in his letter to the Romans, “I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).
And the Church supports this, as it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire. She unites herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. (CCC 1368)
So when we are at Mass, we are supposed to be bringing our prayers, our works, our sufferings and difficulties, along with our joys, offering them as a sacrifice and uniting them with the Eucharistic Prayer of the priest who is making this sacrifice on the altar in the person of Jesus Christ.
What is also interesting is that throughout the book of the prophet Zephaniah there is a strong liturgical theme. God’s judgment is described as if it were a liturgical feast. The people will be saved, not just by being gathered out of exile, but by being gathered to the place of worship: on the “holy mountain.”
So how can the prophet Zephaniah tell the people to “Shout for joy,” “Sing joyfully,” and “Be glad and exult” when the whole country was in such a mess? And how can Paul say in the midst of his suffering to “Rejoice in the Lord always” and “Have no anxiety at all?” Because, as Zephaniah says, “The LORD, your God, is in your midst.” And as Saint Paul tells us, “The Lord is near.”
And when is the Lord near and in our midst? At all times and everywhere, of course, but most especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Church teaches, from the Second Vatican Council, that Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, … but especially under the Eucharistic species. … He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). (SC 7)
Now, I haven’t done a formal study on this, but it has been my experience that people who attend and celebrate Mass on a regular basis, especially those who are able to go daily, and truly present their lives as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” as Paul says, are much more peaceful, joyous, and less anxious, even with all the difficulties of life that they have, than others who rely on their own resources to deal with all that the world is handing them.
And this is why Saint Paul can say as he does to the Philippians: “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”