This is one of the most repeated phrases by Jesus in the Bible – “Do not fear” or some variation. But so many of us worry, and worry and worry. I decided long ago as a child when I had to have a tooth pulled that worry was useless. What good did it do to torture myself with worry when either way I STILL had to have that tooth pulled. Might as well not think about it until it was actually happening.

That’s not to say I never worry, but I try not to let it take a front seat and mess up my day. But there are members of my family who truly paralyze themselves with worry, letting it destroy their life. And there are so many things you could worry about — and they do. What quality of life is that? I pray to you Lord to release them from their worry.

Here is one of my favorite Gospel passages about worry from Matthew, Chapter 6, that provides me with infinite comfort:

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat?’ or What shall we drink?’ or What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

If only we can put our trust in God, we can release all worry. “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” Yes!

Another good read for worriers: “The Worrier’s Guide to the Bible” by Gary Zimak.

I talk a lot about books on this blog, because first off, I love to read, so that’s how I tend to get a good bit of my information, but also because Catholic books have helped me so much in my journey as a newbie.

I just set up a board on Pinterest of my top Catholic Books. I thought that would be a great way to visually display some of my favorites. Come take a look and see if there are any you haven’t read. Plus if you click through and buy any of them from Amazon, I get a small kick-back to help support my blog :).

Follow Lyn Mettler’s board My Favorite Catholic Books on Pinterest.

And please share your own favorite Catholic books in the comments. I’m always looking for a new read!

Just like the rest of the country, here in Indiana we are still watching piles of snow melt and recovering from subzero temperatures that one day hit a high of MINUS 12! That cold, cold weather froze pipes, which then burst, around our area, including my church. Multiples pipes burst leaking water into the sanctuary, the sacristy and our day chapel. And while I know that’s not a great thing for our church, some good has already manifested itself.

I’ve been going to daily mass about 4 days each week since the beginning of the school year. Like most churches, I suspect, it’s a place of peace, quiet, serious reflection and reverence for our Lord. I never really interact much with any of my fellow mass-goers because I’m naturally a quiet person and the tone doesn’t lend itself to casual conversation anyway.

Because of the water, services for daily mass had to be moved to our religious education classroom building, while the day chapel held the items that were in the sacristy.

I am amazed at the atmosphere created within a simple white-walled classroom. When the pipes broke, it seems down came the walls of silence and separation, too… When I walked in yesterday, it still felt like an altar and chapel and appropriately reverent place to worship our Lord (quite a transformation of this room), but the tone was entirely different.

Everyone was quietly chatting and upbeat, the lights shone, and even Father, who is usually quite serious during mass, opened up sharing his characteristic dry wit, giving everyone a chuckle. I talked with some folks I’ve never spoken with before, but who I see all the time, and I felt for the first time a real part of this community, a true  member of the body of Christ. 

Such situations also remind us to be thankful of what we have. My church is in a well off community and we don’t lack for much, so even having a very nice classroom to move daily mass to is a blessing. But it’s a reminder of how truly blessed we are to have a beautiful church and day chapel to worship in.

In the classroom, there are no kneelers, so we all have to bear the slight pain that comes with kneeling on a hard floor, a not-so-difficult penance we can offer up. There is also no Blood of Christ, which I really miss. Again, it makes me appreciate being able to partake of the Blood of Christ nearly every day at mass. What a gift and one that I take for granted!

So while restoration companies and plumbers and clean up and fans galore aren’t such a great thing, every once in a while it’s good to open ourselves, be reminded of what we have and let the walls come tumbling down… just not the pipes!

This quote comes from one of my favorite books, “The Secret Diary of Elizabeth Leseur,” a very holy woman who lived with an unbelieving husband who was not only not supportive of her Catholic religion but at times ridiculed it. She offered up her suffering in that regard for the benefit of his soul, and after her death, he converted and became a Catholic priest!!

Here is her thought on handling such hostility, which I think many of us have come upon at some point or another from someone in our lives or, like me this summer, from some man at the park while I was reading this very book!

“There is little suffering that can compare with this: to love, and to be repaid with hatred or at least hostility; to dream of doing good for someone, of giving part of oneself, and to find that this person does not appreciate you, judges you unfairly, and misunderstands everything about you. What should one do then? Not be unjust in return; remember that the Master suffered misunderstanding and contempt; and without reproaches or sorrowful thoughts of self, continue to speak, act, and love, not to gain the affection denied us, but in the higher and supernatural thought of charity.”