Gospel: Matthew 6, 24 – 34
Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink? ‘or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
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The story is told of a young man who went to Canada to pick fruits. After his stay in Canada he had saved quite a bit of money but instead of bringing the money home he bought a deep freeze,
so large that he had to take the hinges of the door to bring it into his house. It was a status symbol supposed to make him look better in the eyes of his friends and neighbours. While that may be an extreme example, status symbols are all around us and many use them to keep up with the Joneses. Keeping up with the Joneses however reveals to a large extent our value system and tells us what we hold as important.
In the Gospel reading given to us for our meditation this weekend, Jesus reminds his disciples of the necessity of ensuring that our value system is in fact the appropriate one. “…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? In the materialistic culture in which we live it is very easy to be seduced by the superficial, by the brand names, by the easy life. We see this is the demands made on parents by their children for sneakers and computerized games; we see this is the cellular phones and the latest electronic gadgets, in the vehicles which are not really necessary. All of this tells us of a level of superficiality which Jesus describes as pagan. “…do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink? ‘or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek.” Jesus describes such superficiality as pagan because persons who are seduced by these values never think of the tremendous problems facing many amongst whom they live nor are they inclined to help find solutions to these problems. Self-giving love is not part of their world view. Their energies are all devoted to having more so that they can appear to be more. Such attitudes are not the attitudes of believers. Jesus therefore tells his disciples what their focus must be. “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” Disciples of Jesus have as their focus in life, The Kingdom of God of which the prime characteristic is harmony. When we live the Justice, Peace and love of the Kingdom harmony reigns in our midst. A look at the lives of the saints tells us that this is how they lived. Saints were not noted for superficiality. They were noted for their self-giving love for all, especially those on the margins and for their burning desire to make God’s reign a reality. This was the zeal which pushed Pope John Paul II to undertake all those trips around the world. This was the zeal which moved Mother Teresa to bring God’s justice and Peace to the poor dying on the streets. This must be our zeal to bring Peace and love to all the neighbourhoods of our country.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your Son Jesus characterized as pagan all those whose lives are built on the superficiality of outward appearances. Disciples of Jesus must be women and
men who live the self-giving love of Jesus Christ and whose energies are given over to the building of the Kingdom in all situations. Be with us your disciples; help us to understand the needs of your people; Help us to forget public opinion and to focus on building your Kingdom here in our Land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and Jesus your Son. Amen
