Gospel reading: Mt 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 splendor 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.”
REFLECTIONS
Tomorrow will take care of itself
Jesus teaches his disciples to trust in divine providence. God knows our needs and provides for us. We should not worry about our basic necessities.
We should see God as a responsible Father who cares for our well-being. Jesus points to the birds of the air, the grass of the field, and the wild flowers as examples of being worry-free. They are beautiful to look at. God takes care of them.
Jesus assures us that we are more valuable than they in God’s eyes. But we must develop our faith in God and make it grow.
We humans can help ourselves. We have reason and intellect. Unlike plants and animals that rely on instinct and stay pretty much the same throughout their lives, we learn from experience, easily adapt, and improve our lot.
A sign that we do not trust divine providence is when we serve mammon rather than God. We are preoccupied only with earning our bread and securing our future.
As disciples, we can go on a higher level of consciousness, that we are also spiritual beings. As we work for our daily bread, we must trust our Creator whose wisdom never fails us.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
