HAND IN HAND

On this Sunday, which marks the memorial of Edith Stein, we turn our attention to this extraordinary figure, highlighting a message of hers that is highly relevant today. Yes, because Edith has much to say to us as well. Let us begin with a question that often crosses our minds: “Will I be able to hold it all together? To maintain my inner unity amid the tangle of the many commitments that await me each day?” This question visits us in the dead of night, when sleep won’t come, or in the early morning, when the duties of the new day catch up with us with their demands, which sometimes allow for no delay or procrastination. We’ve been told since childhood that we must make plans, think about tomorrow, build careers, and work to forge professional, profitable, emotional, and even competitive relationships. But how is it possible to keep everything under control without falling into anxiety? We must realize that having everything under control, though it may seem commendable, does not depend exclusively on us, nor on our resourcefulness or managerial skills. Edith, like each of us, grappled with this expectation, dismantling it piece by piece. She writes: “It is necessary to live hand in hand with the Lord.” With this phrase, which is in no way pietistic, Edith acknowledges that there is an art we must master, and that is knowing how to entrust ourselves to God, and also to our neighbor. And this is the hardest thing, for how many of us truly know how to entrust ourselves to others and to the Most High? And here Edith offers us a second lesson: do not plan for the next day. We read in a letter: “My life begins anew in the morning and ends in the evening. I have no plans or long-term goals.” Be careful, this is a phrase that must be understood well. Planning is part of daily life; organization is essential for living in an orderly way, but it must not be a primary concern. Edith, I repeat, is not saying that plans should not be made, but that they must not completely steal the present in the name of the future. For her, it is necessary to be present with something or someone and not to fret over managing things. This ability to be present gives quality to what we do, as we learn to act without being consumed by doing and in communion with others. Sometimes we say: “I could have done more.” But Edith would reply: “It is not up to me to hold the world together. Heaven knows how to economize.” So it is not up to me to tally what has been done, but to entrust myself, in faith, to God, who indeed knows how to economize. This is not shirking responsibility but the ability not to confuse personal responsibility with performance anxiety. A third aspect: it is necessary to live the morning well, the hour before. Yes, because when we wake up we are immediately seized by thoughts: I have this to do, that other thing to finish… Edith urges calm. The first hours of the day belong to God. This is the time when, little by little, we learn to place our hand in His hand through listening, prayer, and reflection. The day will be positively sustained and nourished by this, and thus we will have a greater capacity to welcome the various realities we will encounter. In the morning, it is essential to meet with the support of our very being.

Commentary by d. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italia)