2 Kings 2:1, 6-14 / Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
One of the psychological ailments that we suffer from is anxiety.
And of course, anxiety affects even the spiritual well-being of a person, so much so that even in the liturgy, we ask the Lord to protect us from all anxiety.
But where does this anxiety come from, and what causes anxiety?
Of course there are many secondary causes, but one of the primary causes of anxiety is about what people think of us.
And rightly so, because we are so easily affected by what people think and say about us, and we also desire to meet up to people's expectations and to be able to "deliver the goods".
As we heard in the 1st reading, even the prophet Elisha, when he first exercised the role of prophet which he inherited from Elijah, cried out to the Lord God when nothing happened when he struck the water.
Yes, even the prophet Elisha was rather anxious when he could not perform the mighty deeds that Elijah did.
In the gospel, Jesus spoke out against the hypocrites who were out to win men's admiration. They were not just anxious about it; they seem even to be obsessed by it.
And Jesus tells us that what really counts is what we will do when no one is looking at us.
Anxiety is not good for us. Yet it also prods us to ask ourselves: who are we looking at?
If we are not looking at God and doing what pleases Him, then we will always be anxious about what people will think and say about us.