DUMINICA a 3-a după RUSALII - Predica de pe munte. Sfinții Părinți de la Conciliul IV Ecumenic.

5:1-11 PEACE WITH GOD
OVERVIEW: Once we are justified by faith we have peace with God and therefore also peace with ourselves, because the spirit within us is no longer at war with the flesh. This does not mean that we have no more trouble or suffering but that, because we are at peace inside ourselves, we are equipped to do battle with the external forces of evil that continue to fight against us. Faith in Christ brings us nearer to God and gives us a greater share in his glory. This in turn produces the hope that what God has begun in us he will bring to completion at the last day. For the Christian, suffering has a positive purpose. Before the fourth century, Christians suffered periodic persecutions for their beliefs. The first fruit of suffering is patience (endurance), which the Fathers perceived as a great good. Endurance forms character and gives us a positive attitude toward the future.
Christ died for us while we were still ungodly, and this is the measure of his love for us. What can we do but respond to him with a similar love? The early Christians had grown accustomed through martyrdom to the idea that innocent people could and would be put to death. But the martyrs were dying for God, who deserved their devotion, whereas Christ died for us, who are undeserving. This is the true miracle of God’s love for us. Justification is a work of God. We have been justified by what Christ has done and not by the way we have responded to him. Sinners are enemies of God, but sin is willful disobedience, not some flaw in the created order. God’s love is manifested to us in that his Son died for us while we were still sinners. Christians do not dwell on their sins but rather rejoice that they have been delivered from them in and by Christ, who has reconciled us to God. God does not let us down, because he has given us the ultimate gift-his love, manifested by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Commentarry on the Gospel according to St. Matthew 6,22-33
6:22-23 Light and Darkness
AS MIND IS TO SOUL, THE EYE IS TO THE BODY. CHRYSOSTOM: Now Christ leads us to an analogy more within the reach of our senses, that we may not be confused. He has already spoken of the mind as enslaved in captivity. Now he shifts his attention to the eye and to lessons on outward things lying directly before our eyes, so that we might grasp it easily and that we may learn from the body what we did not learn from the mind. For what the mind is to the soul, the eye is to the body. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 20.3.9
SEEKING THE RIGHT INTENTION. AUGUSTINE: We know that all our works are pure and pleasing in the sight of God if they are performed with a single heart. This means that they are performed out of charity and with an intention that is fixed on heaven. For “love is the fulfillment of the law.”10 Therefore in this passage we ought to understand the eye as the intention with which we perform all our actions. If this intention is pure and upright and directing its gaze where it ought to be directed, then unfailingly all our works are good works, because they are performed in accordance with that intention. And by the expression “whole body,” Christ designated all those works that he reproves and that he commands us to put to death. For the apostle also designates certain works as our “members.” “Therefore,” Paul writes, “mortify your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, covetousness,”11 and all other such things. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.13.45.12
WHEN UNDERSTANDING IS QUENCHED. CHRYSOSTOM: If your eyes were completely blind, would you choose to wear gold and silk? Wouldn’t you consider your sound health to be more desirable than mere externals? For if you should lose your health or waste it, all the rest of your life would be unhappily affected. For just as when the eyes are blinded, some of the ability of the other members is diminished, their light being quenched, so also when the mind is depraved, your life will be filled with countless evils. As therefore in the body it is our aim to keep the eye sound, so also it should be our aim to keep the mind sound in relation to the soul. But if we destroy this, which ought to give light to the rest, by what means are we to see clearly any more? For as he who destroys the spring may also dry up the river, so he who has quenched the understanding may have confounded all his actions in this life. So it is said, “If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness?”13 For when the pilot is drowned, when the candle is put out, when the general is taken prisoner, what sort of hope will remain for those that are under his command? THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 20.3.14

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:24-34 GOD AND POSSESSIONS
OVERVIEW: The hurt one receives from the love of mammon results in the loss of more than riches. Rather, the wound occurs at the center of our vitality. It casts us away from the God who made us and cares for us and loves us. By serving this harshest master, one falls away from the highest blessing of being God’s servant (CHRYSOSTOM). Cleanse the intention of the heart from all duplicity (AUGUSTINE). In the light of God’s providence, none of our cares, anxieties or toils will ever come to anything, but all will utterly pass away. The accelerating emphasis is upon the great value set upon our humanity and the concern God shows for us personally (CHRYSOSTOM). In saying “seek first,” Christ clearly shows the difference between ends and means. Our final good is therefore the kingdom of God and his justice (AUGUSTINE). When the need for food and clothing is pressing, these things will be provided by the Father, who knows when the faithful need them (AUGUSTINE).

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:24 God and Mammon
SERVING TWO MASTERS. CHRYSOSTOM: Now Jesus calls mammon here “a master,” not because of its own nature but on account of the wretchedness of those who bow themselves beneath it.1 So also he calls the stomach a god,2 not from the dignity of such a mistress but from the wretchedness of those enslaved. To have mammon for your master is already worse itself than any later punishment and enough retribution before the punishment for any one trapped in it. For what condemned criminals can be so wretched as those who, once having God for their Lord, do from that mild rule desert to this grievous obsession for money? Even in this life such idolatry trails immense harm in its path, with losses unspeakable. Think of the lawsuits! The harrassments, the strife and toil and blinding of the soul! More grievous, one falls away thereby from the highest blessing-to be God’s servant. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 21.2.3
CLEANSING AWAY DUPLICITY. AUGUSTINE: “He will be devoted to one and disregard the other.” He does not say that one will hate the other, for scarcely anyone’s conscience could hate God.4 But one disregards God-that is to say, one does not fear God but presumes on his goodness. From this negligent and tormented confidence, the Holy Spirit recalls us when he says through the prophet: “Son, do not add sin to sin; and do not say, ‘The mercy of God is great.’ ”5 Note when Paul says, “Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”6 For whose mercy can be accounted as great as the mercy of him who forgives all, if they convert to him? He makes the wild olive a partaker of the fatness of the original olive tree. At the same time, whose severity can be accounted as great as the severity of him who has not spared the natural branches but has broken them off because of unbelief?7 Therefore, whoever wishes to love God and to beware of offending him, let such a one cleanse the upright intention of his heart from all duplicity. In this way, he will “think of the Lord in goodness and seek him in simplicity of heart.”8 SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.14.48.9

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:25 Do Not Be Anxious
TAKE NO THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR LIFE. CHRYSOSTOM: Note that he did not simply say, “Don’t be anxious for your life,” but he added the reason and so commanded this. After having said, “You cannot serve God and mammon,” he added, “Therefore I say to you, don’t worry.” Therefore? Why therefore? Because of the unspeakable loss. For the hurt you receive is not in riches only; rather, the wound is in the most vital parts, in the subversion of your salvation, casting you as it does away from the God who made you, cares for you and loves you. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.” Only after Jesus has shown the hurt to be unspeakable, then and not before does he make the instruction stricter. He not only asks us to cast away what we have but also forbids us to take thought even for the food we need, saying, “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat,” not because the soul needs food, for it is incorporeal. He spoke figuratively. For though the soul as such needs no food, it cannot endure to remain in the body unless the body is fed. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 21.2.10

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:26 The Birds of the Air
MORE AND LESS IMPORTANT. AUGUSTINE: These examples are not to be analyzed like allegories. We must not inquire about the allegorical significance of the birds of the air or the lilies of the field. These examples are proposed so that more important things may be suggested from things of less importance. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.15.52.11
6:27-30 Lilies of the Field
GOD’S PROVIDENCE AND OUR ANXIETIES. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see how Jesus clarifies what has been obscure by comparing it to what is self-evident? Can you add one cubit, or even the slightest measure, to your bodily life span by worrying about it? Can you by being anxious about food add moments to your life? Hence it is clear that it is not our diligence but the providence of God, even where we seem to be active, that finally accompanies everything. In the light of God’s providence, none of our cares, anxieties, toils or any other such things will ever come to anything, but all will utterly pass away. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 21.3.12
THE VALUE OF LIFE. CHRYSOSTOM: Note the acceleration of images: just when the lilies are decked out, he no longer calls them lilies but “grass of the field.”13 He then points further to their vulnerable condition by saying “which are here today.” Then he does not merely say “and not tomorrow” but rather more callously “cast into the oven.” These creatures are not merely “clothed” but “so clothed” in this way as to be later brought to nothing. Do you see how Jesus everywhere abounds in amplifications and intensifications? And he does so in order to press his points home. So then he adds, “Will he not much more clothe you?” The force of the emphasis is on “you” to indicate covertly how great is the value set upon your personal existence and the concern God shows for you in particular. It is as though he were saying, “You, to whom he gave a soul, for whom he fashioned a body, for whose sake he made everything in creation, for whose sake he sent prophets, and gave the law, and wrought those innumerable good works, and for whose sake he gave up his only begotten Son.” THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 22.1.14
BALANCING COUNSEL AND REPROOF. CHRYSOSTOM: It is not until he has clearly revealed his affection that he proceeds also to reprove them, saying, “O you of little faith.” For this is the quality of a wise counselor. He balances counsel and reproof, that he may awaken persons all the more to the force of his words. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 22.1.15

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:26 The Birds of the Air
MORE AND LESS IMPORTANT. AUGUSTINE: These examples are not to be analyzed like allegories. We must not inquire about the allegorical significance of the birds of the air or the lilies of the field. These examples are proposed so that more important things may be suggested from things of less importance. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.15.52.11
6:27-30 Lilies of the Field
GOD’S PROVIDENCE AND OUR ANXIETIES. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see how Jesus clarifies what has been obscure by comparing it to what is self-evident? Can you add one cubit, or even the slightest measure, to your bodily life span by worrying about it? Can you by being anxious about food add moments to your life? Hence it is clear that it is not our diligence but the providence of God, even where we seem to be active, that finally accompanies everything. In the light of God’s providence, none of our cares, anxieties, toils or any other such things will ever come to anything, but all will utterly pass away. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 21.3.12
THE VALUE OF LIFE. CHRYSOSTOM: Note the acceleration of images: just when the lilies are decked out, he no longer calls them lilies but “grass of the field.”13 He then points further to their vulnerable condition by saying “which are here today.” Then he does not merely say “and not tomorrow” but rather more callously “cast into the oven.” These creatures are not merely “clothed” but “so clothed” in this way as to be later brought to nothing. Do you see how Jesus everywhere abounds in amplifications and intensifications? And he does so in order to press his points home. So then he adds, “Will he not much more clothe you?” The force of the emphasis is on “you” to indicate covertly how great is the value set upon your personal existence and the concern God shows for you in particular. It is as though he were saying, “You, to whom he gave a soul, for whom he fashioned a body, for whose sake he made everything in creation, for whose sake he sent prophets, and gave the law, and wrought those innumerable good works, and for whose sake he gave up his only begotten Son.” THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 22.1.14
BALANCING COUNSEL AND REPROOF. CHRYSOSTOM: It is not until he has clearly revealed his affection that he proceeds also to reprove them, saying, “O you of little faith.” For this is the quality of a wise counselor. He balances counsel and reproof, that he may awaken persons all the more to the force of his words. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 22.1.15

[@LordJesusChristSonofGodHMOMAS]

6:31-33 Seeking God’s Kingdom and Righteousness
ENDS AND MEANS. AUGUSTINE: At first he makes it abundantly clear that these things are not to be sought as if they were for us the kind of blessings for the sake of which we ought to make all our actions good actions but that they are necessities nevertheless. Then Jesus says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” In this sentence he clearly shows the difference between a good that ought to be sought as an end and a value that ought to be seen as a means. Our final good is therefore the kingdom of God and his justice. We ought to seek this good and fix our aim upon it. Let us perform all our actions for the sake of it. Yet, since we are waging war in this life in order to be able to reach that kingdom and since this life cannot be maintained unless those necessities are supplied, he says, “These things shall be given you besides, but seek you first the kingdom of God and his justice.” SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.16.53.16
SEEK FIRST. AUGUSTINE: When he said that the one is to be sought first, Jesus clearly intimates that the other is to be sought later-not that it is to be sought at a later time but that it is to be sought as a thing of secondary importance. He showed that the one is to be sought as our good, that the other is to be sought as something needful for us, but that the needful is to be sought for the sake of the good. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.16.53.17