The more you pray, the less you'll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry.

“Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” - Padre Pio

Scripture Text: (PS 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 AND 17)

R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

You turn man back to dust,

saying, “Return, O children of men.”

For a thousand years in your sight

are as yesterday, now that it is past,

or as a watch of the night.

R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

You make an end of them in their sleep;

the next morning they are like the changing grass,

Which at dawn springs up anew,

but by evening wilts and fades.

R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Return, O LORD! How long?

Have pity on your servants!

R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,

that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours;

prosper the work of our hands for us!

Prosper the work of our hands!

R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

Every now and then when I am having a bad day, I try to remember what I was worrying about a couple of years ago, or even a couple of weeks ago.   Then I think of how trivial my worries and problems really are when you look at them in context to the psalm above which states, “a thousand years…are as yesterday.”  Who knows what was happening  a thousand years ago? Or better yet, who really dwells on it.

Psalm 90 gives me a sense of peace because it leads me to reflect on the God of eternity and to put things in perspective. Today we all have our specific worries to the state of life we find ourselves in but by Christmas many of those same concerns will be long gone (I hope), replaced by new issues. And God will still be God.

How many thousands of years did God's creation of the earth exist before people appeared? And what of the vastness of the universe? When I’m troubled, it helps to envision my life as a grain of sand against the background of the cosmos Thinking of the eternal God to whom a thousand years are as yesterday also helps me to let go and trust that my transitory stresses are part of God’s larger plan for me. So let us take a deep breath, and contemplate the wonder of God and his creation. Then we can turn our worries and fears over to God and find them seeming much smaller.