Trust Jump

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, October 8th, 2023:
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Philippians
4.6-9

Brothers and sisters: Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

One of the many blessings of being from a big family is that I enjoy being an auntie to many beautiful nieces and nephews. My oldest niece is a teenager now, but I remember one sweet episode from her young childhood as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. She was probably about two or three years old at the time, with blonde curls and sweet ruby cheeks. A few of us were sitting out on the front deck of my parents’ house in the summer sun. The deck was raised, and you could exit it by five or six stairs at the far end. My little niece saw her dad standing off the deck at the bottom of those stairs, and without a thought or warning, ran at full speed and jumped off the top step with her eyes closed. Her dad was quick and strong, and caught her without a problem—praise God! After the initial gasp and shock that all the adults experienced, we got to delight in watching her re-play this ritual again and again as she clambered up the steps, got herself to a distance, and then ran and jumped with glee into her father’s arms. 


I think it is only as adults that we begin to have so many issues with that kind of trust, when team exercises like the “trust fall” are nerve-wrecking and exhilarating experiences. But my little niece just knew that her Dad would catch her and was able to abandon herself to the freedom and joy of that jump. I remember reflecting on her trust jump and realizing that this is what trusting God the Father looks like. It is a truly reckless abandon to leap into His arms, without overthinking or worrying whether He will be there to catch us. 


Do not worry about anything, but in everything… let your requests be made known to God. What if we took that one situation or burden of which we are struggling to let go, looked in the face of our Provident Father, and cast our cares into His arms? What would happen to our anxiety levels if we made a practice of doing this every night before going to bed, maybe alongside a nightly examination of conscience? It may be scary. It may feel like a letting go that is “reckless” indeed. And our problems won’t vanish overnight; there will still be situations that we will have to pick up in the morning and address in whatever way is appropriate, but it does not mean that we are meant to carry the burden on our own. 


That is how the peace that surpasses understanding may reside in our hearts. My niece had a peace in jumping off that deck—a peace that surpassed understanding. May we all cast our cares upon Him, knowing that as a good, good Father, He will catch us every single time in His loving arms.




Sr. Angela Burnham

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