Stress and anxiety are something that we go through over the course of our lives. Perhaps it has been heightened for some in recent weeks with the stock market downturn, but in reality even in a bull market there is no getting around stress. Fear over the big exam. Fear over being rejected by someone we have feelings for. Fear of trying our best and failing. How then are we do deal with it?

The second reading from October 5th, the 27th week in Ordinary Time, struck me, as in it we read “…have no anxiety at all…” but how does that work? I decided to preach on it and talk a bit about the virtue of fortitude. The homily follows below, and the readings for that week are Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9 and Matthew 21:33-43. Here’s a link to them:

http://www.usccb.org/nab/100508.shtml

And the homily is below.

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I am by no stretch of the imagination a financial planner or big-time investor, but I love following the market and investing a little bit here and there, and needless to say it has been a discouraging week. In one day, the stock market shed more than one trillion dollars, and the headline on the Star Tribune the next day cried out “What a Mess.” But what struck me was the picture of the trader on the floor of the stock exchange, whose face you could not see. His hands were on his head, and his body language seemed to say it all: what next? Can this get any worse?

Now the collapse wasn’t as bad as 1987 or 1929. But were not here to talk economics. The reason I bring up that picture on the front of the paper is because I think so many people could be under that headline and have their picture there, even if they had not a single penny invested in Wall Street, because all of us can relate to anxiety. I think back to my time in high school, and even at seminary, and my stress level was always pretty high. For instance, tests. I hated them, and would always freak out and assume the worst. In fact one time my best friend asked me what was wrong with my hands before a test, pointing out to me how they had become red and dry. It was from the hand washing I was doing as a nervous response to fear over the big test. And then there was dating, which involved stress at many levels. First, asking the girl if she’d like to go out. Second, making the phone call, which involved usually multiple attempts. And third, the date itself, during which I was constantly wondering what the girl was thinking, all the while assuming the worst and the inevitable “lets get together again as friends” line. Now not every date was a disaster, but obviously dating is a non-issue today. But for me, I have to tell you, anxiety certainly isn’t. It still looms large in my life, and I so often assume the worst from everything to a doctor’s visit to delivering a homily. But so often, things work out just fine. And, even when they don’t, the world does not end. Even so, I have a hard time getting that, and I think the same can be said for many of us.

In our second reading, Paul exhorts the Philippians to “have no anxiety” in anything, but to just turn it over to God and make our requests known to Him. In a few moments, together I will lead a prayer that says “protect us from all anxiety.” But despite saying those words many times, despite praying daily, anxiety hasn’t vanished from my life. And my hunch is it hasn’t vanished from yours either. A house mortgage. An investment portfolio down the tubes. Monday morning at high school with a test and a paper due. Rejection from the girl or guy of your dreams. So much of our lives is driven by fear – but Paul tells us this shouldn’t be. How then, are we to get a handle on it and take those words of our Second Reading and of the “Our Father” to heart?

I am not an economist, and I am also not Dr. Phil, but I think there are ways that we can confront anxiety on our Christian journey that I’d like to share, and that’s through the use of the virtue of fortitude.

The virtues are gifts given to us by God, and fortitude is one that can at times be overlooked, or think it applies to only those moments of immanent danger – but really its a virtue we have to draw on daily. We see it unfold throughout Christian history in that Christians know what it means to face danger – which is why martyrs from Saint Stephen to the martyrs who continue to die for the faith today willingly lay down their lives for the faith. We may not be called to lay down our lives for the faith, but we are called to confront fear, which we do by living this virtue out. So how do we make use of it?

For one, we pray, as Saint Paul tells us to do: by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God  Prayer is essential to fortitude because we have to discern what is the right decision in a situation and use the virtue of prudence. For instance if you say “I’ll be brave and not study for the test and take my chances,” that’s not fortitude. That’s foolishness.

We also have to be guided by magnanimity. I know, it’s a big word and I had to look it up too. But basically it comes down to greatness, or looking at the big picture, and thinking of the ends. And that’s tough to do. Sometimes we get focused on the short-term, but life is much more than that. Ask yourself the big questions: why am I here? What is my end? Ultimately, my end is God and being with Him, but sometimes we get sidetracked and think of ourselves. But the magnanimous person puts others first, and does all that he can to honor his neighbor. Take someone like Fr. Arnold Weber, a man who was, to borrow the term from one of my seminary profs, a true entreprenuer priest rather than a “station manager,” meaning he wasn’t content to just come in and manage Holy Name from 9 to 5 and Mass on Sunday, but a man who had a vision – a man who saw great things for Holy Name and built this parish up into the great parish it is today; a man who would do anything for his flock; and a man who always looked to the future and helped people to grow in their faith and live it out.

So, too, in thinking of others, does it mean speaking out and tough love and doing difficult things. That’s what we see in our Gospel. Jesus is predicting His passion, and this parable places the suffering and death of Jesus in line with the mistreatment of God’s messengers over the centuries. Jesus knows there will be consequences for speaking out as He does, but He does it. This is not a Minnesota nice Gospel. And just as speaking out costs Jesus His life, speaking out has cost Christians plenty over time. We may not face martyrdom today for speaking out, but we may face ridicule, a damaged image in the eyes of others, or even friendships lost. But we are called to take a stand for the faith rather than be silent. That means if we see someone going down the wrong path, we have to speak out. And we also speak out against the de-valuing of human life, which we do through our voices and our actions. This is respect life Sunday, and if you think about it, life gets little respect in our world today. Abortion is seen by many as a form of birth control; a person who commits a terrible crime is deemed unworthy to live anymore; and so often a person’s value is based on how useful they are rather than on their human dignity. Perhaps at times we might feel like we are powerless to change things, but that’s just not true. When we support groups like Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life or organizations that help young women find alternatives to abortion, we make a difference. When we visit an assisted living center to help out and visit with people simply to brighten their day and get to know them, we make a difference. And when we go to places like Feed My Starving Children or Sharing and Caring Hands to give of our time to comfort the people society forgets about, we really do make a difference. We not only help people who need our help, but we show to the world through our actions the true value of human life

Finally, if we are going to truly embrace fortitude and overcome anxiety, we have to be people of patience and perseverance. Just as in life it is easy to focus on the short-term, when we hit those bumps in the road, anxiety and frustration can set in and we can lose focus of the big picture. The root of the word “patience” is “pati” which means “to suffer.” But when we suffer, we do not merely resign ourselves to the situation, but rather trust God’s love as that which will help us endure to the end. The person who is patient doesn’t despair of the goodness of God. Rather they accept the situation, realize that God is with them, and refuse to let it get them down. Having that trust though is tough. Maybe you are midway through your semester, and you set out to get straight “A’s” and have had some setbacks. Maybe you tried out for varsity or a starting position on the football or soccer team and the coach said to you “I’m sorry, but we just can’t use you at this position.” Or maybe you’re dealing with friendships and relationships that were going along great, but are imploding because of a fight or the person you liked doesn’t seem to share the same feelings anymore. That’s not easy stuff to deal with. And when these things happen, two choices are before you. You can focus on the short-term, and think “what’s the point of it all – I’m not going to pass, the teacher hates me, or I’ll never have a successful relationship” and give up, or you can persevere, and look at the big picture. It can be something as simple as writing a paper. Doing them were a drag when I was in school. It’s a whole lot more fun to work on excelling at Rock Band than it is excelling at writing a great paper. But you get the thing done because you know what you need to do. You have the big picture in mind. And on the bigger level, that is so true for so many different things. Returning to the example of pro-life issues, it would seem that the setbacks have been huge. Abortion has been legal in the United States since the 1970s, and is even more accepted in Europe and Russia than it is here. So why bother to do anything? Because the pro-life movement recognizes there is a truth – that it is immoral to take an innocent human life – and that is worth fighting for. My hope is we recognize that whether it is big issues like the dignity of human life, or even the goals we want to achieve, that we set out and persevere in achieving them.

My homily wouldn’t be complete without a movie quote, so I’ll add one from a film I have never seen, but that the instructor of my virtues class mentioned to us one day. Its from “Chariots of Fire.” The runner, Eric Liddell, in reflecting on the gifts God gave Him, said “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure.” God didn’t make me very fast, but He did make me, and put me on this earth for a reason, and the same is true for you. It is a whole lot easier sometimes to focus on my weaknesses and setbacks, but I need to trust that God loves me and accepts me for who I am, and that He is there to guide me each and every day. My hope is that you have that trust too. It’s OK to be afraid at times – but there’s a difference between fear and cowardice. Cowardice is an excessive fear that causes one to turn from the path of virtue. Cowardice is the fuel of the lie that says “I am a failure.” Fortitude is the remedy, that helps us see something through to the end, and run the race of life, and pick ourselves up when we fall and get back on the track rather than giving up. May we use this virtue to run it well, and never give up knowing that we can truly make it through anything life will throw our way. On Good Friday, the worst possible thing happened: Jesus died, and all was seemingly hopeless. But through that dark hour, the world was redeemed and Christ conquered the grave. May we turn to Him, and to our God, and to this beautiful virtue to conquer all of our fears.