Jesus urges men to only serve God and trust in Him to overcome anxiety. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by building the Virtue of Magnanimity so he can live heroically by loving God above all else and by growing in the Virtue of Hope so he can always absolutely trust in God to provide for his daily needs.
Liturgy
8th Week in Ordinary Time – Sunday – Cycle A – Mt 6:24-34
Commentary
After blessing mankind with The Lord’s Prayer and warning men to pursue Heaven instead of the pleasures of the world, Jesus continues His Sermon on the Mount by calling men to be exclusively committed to God so they can find peace from worldly anxiety.
Jesus refutes the delusion of a man’s independence, confirming that all men are slaves to someone or something. Men must choose between one of two masters. The first master, called “mammon”, a personification of “riches or wealth”, is a false god promoted by Satan; Satan desires men to pursue the world and to rebel against God. The second Master, God Almighty, is the True Master, the One who loves and cares for His men. Elsewhere, Jesus confirms men must choose: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Mt 12:30).
Having called men to submit to God as their Master, Jesus denounces the many worldly attachments that men have, which must be overcome through faith in God. Jesus uses several arguments for rejecting men’s excessive worry about worldly things: the relative unimportance of worldly things (food, drink, clothing); the fact that God cares for lowly creatures and so will more than abundantly care for His sons; the absolute futility of worry, especially about the future. Jesus rebukes men of “little faith” who worry like faithless pagans. Instead, Jesus challenges men to first seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that God knows what men need and will provide for every genuine need that faithful men have.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Be encouraged and joyful at Jesus, the perfect demonstration of Faith (though He does not have or need faith because He is one with the Father) as He exhorts men to reject anxiety/fear over worldly things (food, drink, clothing, even one’s life) and to put absolute faith in His Father, for He has Divine Knowledge (of the needs of every man), Divine Power (the power to meet men’s true needs) and a perfect Charity for His children; be awed that as a Person of the Trinity, Jesus and the Father are one, He possesses all the Knowledge, Power and Charity of the Father.
Live heroically by loving God above all else
Realize: Jesus’ revelation of the truth that a man cannot serve God and mammon also confirms the great Spiritual Combat of life, in which every Catholic man must continually choose to heroically live his life to love and serve God and His Holy Catholic Church and to battle against the relentless temptations by Satan to lure a him into sin.
Believe: Reflect upon the 1st Commandment (“You shall love the Lord your God…” CCC 2083-2094).
Pray: Almighty Father, help me build the Virtue of Magnanimity (a part of Fortitude) so I always remember my heroic commitment to love and serve You and Your Holy Catholic Church and to rely on Your unceasing protection and help in the Spiritual Combat.
Trust God to provide for your daily needs
Realize: Jesus, the Son of God, personally chose to experience poverty and closely observed the struggles of the poor; He has a perfect understanding of men’s anxiety over material needs and wants, and how trusting in God’s providence can give men peace.
Believe: Reflect upon the petition Give us today our daily bread from the Our Father (CCC 2828-2837).
Pray: Jesus, Son of God, help me build the Virtue of Hope so I put my trust completely in You to understand and provide for my daily needs and the needs of my family.