Friday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 26, 2026

Matthew 8, 1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.”  This occurs immediately following his account of the Sermon on the Mount and so it acts as a sign of divine approbation for it.  The first verse seems to confirm the idea that Jesus had preached only to his disciples — whether Matthew meant by this his Apostles or the larger group of disciples — and not to the crowds.  If this were true, than the crowds waited for him to descend to them, and they followed him once he did.

“And then a leper approached, did him homage.”  Because large crowds were following Jesus, the leper must have approached him coming from in front.  Matthew says he “approached” Jesus, meaning that he came as near as he dared, considering his ailment rendered him unclean.  But Jesus must have walked right up to him because Matthew also tells us that he “stretched out” his hand to him.  The crowd behind may not have seen this but the Apostles around him would have shuddered in horror at the sight of their Lord drawing near to the repulsive sight of the leper.  The stench would also have nearly overpowered anyone in the proximity of the man.  But more than that, they would have felt anxiety that Jesus was putting himself in the position of becoming unclean himself.  

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”  This can also be translated, “Lord, if it is your will, you are powerful to make me clean.”  The leper has heard of the Lord’s ability to heal.  He knows that it is merely a matter of whether it is the Lord’s will to make him clean.  We can understand this as the leper speaking for all of us, confessing his power and acknowledging his will.  The leper does not directly ask to be healed, but puts forward this statement which makes his healing (or not) a personal matter between the Lord and him.  It is as if he were asking, Do you want to heal me?  We ought to pray this way when we ask him to forgive our sins, for in praying “Lord, you have the power to forgive me” we explicitly state our belief in his power, whereas, “Please forgive me” only implicitly achieves this.

“He stretched out his hand, touched him.”  All who witnessed this touching would have gasped out loud at this.  Even the leper might have instinctively drawn back.  The Lord touched him without any warning, any hesitation.  Probably he touched his hand, but he might have touched his face.  We can try to imagine the leper’s feelings.  He had probably not felt a human touch in many years.  The Lord looked directly into his eyes, through his eyes, and into his soul.  The leper would have felt the Lord’s heart touching his as he looked at him.  The compassion in the Lord’s eyes alone would have melted away the putrefied sores.  In the precise instant the Lord touched him, he was healed: “His leprosy was cleansed immediately.”  St. Mark tells us that when the woman with the hemorrhages touched the Lord, “she felt in her body that she was healed of the evil” (Mark 5, 29).  Who can doubt that the leper felt the Lord’s power surging through him as well? 

“I will do it. Be made clean.”  This is better translated, “I will it.  Be cleansed.”  Jesus is saying that he it is his will for the leper to be cleansed.  It is not simply an agreement to do something.  It is the will of God that he be free from his leprosy.  It is the will of God that we be freed from our sins.  All we need do is to come before him with contrition and to confess that he has the power to do this.

“See that you tell no one.”  The Lord often told those whom he cured to tell no one of how it was done.  Here, he may have done so as a test of the man’s obedience towards the one who healed him, or it may have been in order to prevent him being overwhelmed by people seeking cures so that he had no time to preach. Sadly, in his report of the cure, St. Mark tells us, “He being gone out, began to publish and to blaze abroad the word: so that he could not openly go into the city. but was without in desert places. And they flocked to him from all sides” (Mark 1, 45).  

“But go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”  It is unclear from Mark’s telling of the aftermath of the fire whether the former leper followed through with this or not.  According to the detailed instructions in the Book of Leviticus, only the Temple priests could declare a man cleansed of leprosy and grant that he return to his family.  This might have taken the form of a signed written notice.  The cleansed man was instructed to give as a gift “two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop” (Leviticus 14, 4).  The priest would examine the man for the tiniest sign of the disease.  Having presented the offering and survived the examination, the man would wash his clothes, shave all his hair, and wash himself.  He would return to his town, but could not enter his house for seven more days.  For us, when we ask for the forgiveness of our sins, this amounts to the performing of a penance.

The Lord looked into the man’s eyes and touched him with his hand.  May he one day look into our eyes and take us by the hand and lead us into heaven.

Thursday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 25, 2026

Matthew 7, 21-29

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’  Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”  When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

With this reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew, we come to the end of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.  He has laid before us his moral teachings and will shortly confirm them through a series of powerful miracles.  Here, he speaks of the consequences of those who do not follow his teachings though pretending to be his followers.  And in the Sermon’s concluding words, the Lord teaches how following his laws provides his true followers a sure foundation for us to reach heaven.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven.”  It is easy to call for help when we find ourselves in grave danger.  Likewise, it is easy to call Jesus “Lord” when he is about to judge us. But only those who served Jesus on earth as his servants will enter the Kingdom of heaven: “Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”  To enter heaven after we die we must serve the King of heaven while we live.  He will recognize us as his servants and will invite us in.  More than that, “He will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12, 37).  “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?”  However, they did not.  Or, for personal gain some people fake their Christianity and act as go through the motions of prophesying — preaching — and performing good works, but these, coupled with immoral living — insult God and do him no honor at all.  Instead, “their god is their belly” (Philippians 3, 19).  

“I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.”  That is, he never knew them as his followers, his servants.  They never came to him to learn of him.  In the end, they call upon him merely to stave off their condemnation: he is nothing more for them than a means to an end.  He calls them evildoers because he knows them for their godlessness.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”  This means that the builder sinks the principal beams that will hold his house together into the rock, the deeper the better.  He must use solid wood, preferably a hardwood, or even with such a rock as the foundation the house will not last long.  The “rock” is the Church, which preserves and advances the teachings of the Lord.  The “wood” the builder uses is his intellect and free-will.  Grounded in this rock, these beams will fixedly hold together the house of this man’s hope for heaven.  “A fool who built his house on sand.”  It is relatively easy and cheap to build a house on a foundation of sand, but it will not endure.  Sand does offer much in the way of stability but is quickly scattered by the wind and washed away by water.  In the spiritual life, “sand” signifies our neglect of prayer, the Sacraments, Holy Mass, and a perverse trust in our own abilities.  “The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.”  Trials, tribulations, health failures, the weakness of old age do not trouble those who have given themselves entirely to God, but will mean disaster for those who have not: their house will collapse and be completely ruined.  

“When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”  Throughout his Sermon, the Lord declared to the people, “I say.”  Here is your understanding of the Law, or the understanding of the scribes, but I say to you, etc.  The Lord Jesus came to complete and to fulfill, and to reveal the deeper demands of the Laws given to the people through Moses, which can now be carried out with the help of God’s grace.Through our adherence to the commandments of Christ we build our house on rock, looking forward to the day when we will dwell in God’s eternal dwellings. 

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Isaiah 49, 1–6

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Today’s reflection is on the First Reading for today’s Solemnity.

These words, spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, also illuminate for us the interior life of John the Baptist.  Certainly, John showed himself a worthy descendent of Isaiah, who seems also to have come from a priestly family, and who preached repentance and prophesied future salvation both in his words and in the deeds the Lord told him to perform.  John likewise preached repentance and set forth signs such as in his clothing and food, and most especially in the sign of his baptism, which pointed to the baptism initiated by the Lord Jesus which conferred grace.

“The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.”  Now, we do not read of God telling his parents what to name Isaiah in the way John’s parents were told, but these words mean that God had charge of the child from his birth, and had prepared a special vocation for him.  As the son of a priest, John would have received an education in the Law and the Prophets such as would prepare him for service in the Temple.  The forerunner of the Savior, then, was guided by God to know the Scriptures and to know him.  “He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.”  John spoke of Jesus as an “axe” (Matthew 3, 10), and the Prophet speaks of John as a “sword”.  As a sharp-edged sword in the hand of the Lord, John spoke plainly of the sins of the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, cutting through their pretensions and false interpretations of the Scriptures.  He was “concealed” in that he lived quietly for most of his life in Judea, praying and doing penance, and attracted crowds only in the last few years.

“You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.”  God calls him “Israel”, who went into Egypt with his sons and did not live to see the nation sprung from his loins enter and inhabit the land God had promised to Abraham and his father Isaac before him.  John lived to see the beginning of Christ’s ministry, but did not live to see his Resurrection.

“Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.”  The Prophets suffered periods of frustration and questioning.  Jeremiah especially poured out the darkness that sometimes filled him.  It is not impossible that John felt this too now and then in the long years of waiting for the Messiah as well as during his imprisonment in Herod’s fortress. He would have taken consolation from the fact that he was doing the will of God.  “For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him.”  John knew deep inside his heart that he was the chosen instrument of God for beginning the work of calling Israel to return to God.  He knew that he was the voice who would cry out in the wilderness that the Kingdom of heaven was approaching.  

“I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!”  Just as the Virgin Mary could say that all generations would call her blessed for all that the Lord has done for her, so John the Baptist knew that he would be made glorious by what God had done for him in calling him to be the forerunner of the Son of God.  “It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel.”  God praises John for his commitment to doing his will, for prophesying in an age long after the prophets had ceased to come, living in the wilderness instead of a city, as most of the prophets had, and giving up the chance to serve in the Temple, the highest honor a Jew could receive.  “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”  And not only would he call the Jews together but his preaching went out to the Gentiles as well so that they began to look for a Savior from Israel.

Tuesday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 23, 2026

Matthew 7, 6; 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.  Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

“Do not give what is holy to dogs.”  Verse 6 seems out of place with what came before and what comes afterwards.  It possibly goes with the Lord’s later instructions to the Apostles about their first preaching mission. In this case, “the holy thing” (as the Greek says) might be the message to repent for the Kingdom of heaven has approached.  We could read it thus: “Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not (Matthew 10, 5) . . . Do not give the holy thing to dogs.”  Or if this saying properly belongs to the Lord’s sayings after his Resurrection as he is telling his Apostles to go out to all the world to preach the Gospel, “the holy thing” could refer to Baptism or to the holy mysteries of the Mass.  indeed, one of the Church Fathers identified “the holy thing” as baptism.

Without context, it is difficult to know to what “the holy thing” refers.  We do know what the Lord has in mind when he speaks of “dogs”.  Though the Jewish Law does not explicitly list the dog as an unclean animal in the way the pig is, Old Testament references to dogs eating the flesh of the dead certainly taints the animal as unclean.  The “dog”, then, was anyone unclean, primarily meaning the Gentiles.  The Lord himself spoke of the Gentiles in this way: “It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs” (Matthew 15, 26).  Likewise, “or throw your pearls before swine”.  The Lord explains why the Apostles should not corrupt what is holy: “Lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.”  That is, the unholy people will ruin the holy things and also attack the ones who provide them.  We can understand this verse today in terms of the reception of Holy Communion by non-Catholics or by those who are not in the state of grace.  While perhaps sounding harsh, it is necessary to keep in mind the great holiness of the Lord’s Body and Blood and the great vileness of the state of a person who has maliciously cast away the grace that the Lord Jesus died on the Cross to give him.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”  This verse also seems unconnected from what has gone before.  One explanation for this seeming collection of unrelated sayings is that Matthew is working from his memory and he puts down only what he is sure of and does not try to cobble together a flow of speech he is not certain of.  While for the believer, the meaning this admonition seems apparent, others have criticized it for being impossible to carry out in real life.  They argue that if someone were to ask us to give them our house, we should do this if we follow this rule if it is what we would have them do for us if we asked.  However, the Lord gives the rule to those who believe in him and who therefore would not ask a neighbor to give them something that would ruin the neighbor.  Such behavior would, in fact, violate the commandment that we love our neighbors as ourselves.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.”  The “narrow gate” leads to life.  It is said to be a “gate” because it presents restrictions.  It is said to be “narrow” in that the restrictions are demanding.  The Lord says that the way to eternal life passes through a narrow gate, one side of the gate being the commandment to love God with all our heart, mind and soul.  The other side of the gate signifies the love of neighbor as oneself.  These “restrict” us from doing harm to our hopes for salvation by keeping us from worshipping false gods such as power, wealth, and sex and from doing harm to our neighbor.  The gate that leads to destruction is said to be broad because the two sides of the gate that leads to life have been torn down and only a wide hole in the fence remains. “Those who enter through it are many.”  Many people reject the narrow gate because they think themselves too good for any perceived abridgment on their imagined autonomy, and who want nothing more than to pursue the false gods that appeal to them.  It is the sin of Adam and Eve all over again, and leading to the same disaster.

“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”  The gate to life is not narrow to keep people out.  It is narrow to keep people in.  Those are few who find it because those are few who look for it.  

Monday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 22, 1026

Matthew 7, 1-5

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”  This verse has been much misinterpreted over the years.  The traditional English translation of the Greek verb in the verse has a range of meanings and has in fact shifted in meaning down through the centuries though the word continues to be retained.  In fact, in Ancient Greek it means “to bring to court”, “to accuse”, “to condemn”.  It most emphatically does not mean “to make or hold an opinion” or “to criticize”.  In practice, Jesus means for us not to act with malice on our thoughts or words about another person.  Neither should we jump to conclusions, assume the worst about someone’s intentions, or draw conclusions from generalizations.  By withholding our accusations and condemnations, we avoid sin and escape condemnation from God.  “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”  While the first part of the verse tells us what not to do, the second part advises us on what we should do.  We should “measure” generously and graciously unto others, but because we imitate Jesus in his immeasurable generosity to us, offering his life for us, and because we thus increase our capacity for what God wants to give us.

“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?”  This “beam” would hold up a roof.  Jesus speaks to our desire to divert our own and others’ attention from our own faults.  He also hints that once this “beam” is removed we will find that it distorted our eyesight so badly that the fault we attributed to our brother in fact did not exist, and so we look doubly foolish.  “Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye.”  Not only do we point to the supposed fault, we attempt to correct it though we truly do not understand how.  This is also the sign of a person who wishes to control other people.

“You hypocrite.”  Jesus calls such a person who accuses others of faults while themselves being riddled with faults “godless”.  This is the work not of a religious soul but of a pagan.  Pagan do not always worship statues, but they do always act in destructive ways against their neighbors in order to promote themselves.

The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 21, 2026

Matthew 10, 26–33

Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” 

In this part of his Gospel, St. Matthew is recording how the Lord Jesus prepared his Apostles to preach to the cities and towns in Galilee and Judea.  He has given them them specific instructions on what to take with them, how to act while on mission, and what to say.  The verses that make up today’s Gospel Reading, however, may actually come from a later time, during the forty days after the Resurrection, when the Lord was preparing the Apostles to go out to the world.  If this is correct, then Matthew adds them on to the instructions the Lord gives his Apostles at the an earlier time during his Public Life because the content is similar and it seemed to to him to fit there.  The reason for thinking this possible is that the Lord is sending the Twelve to nearby localities where they will not experience the persecution he speaks of here — they are just dipping their toes in the preaching life that they will know after Pentecost.  But whether Jesus spoke these words in the order we have them or indeed after the Resurrection, their meaning does not change for us.

“Fear no one.”  The Lord tells this to the Apostles who will be confronted by resistance, mockery, and both religious and civil authority.  A message which ought to cause universal rejoicing will be seen by many as a threat.

“Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”  This verse seems detached from “Do not fear”, but this addresses another fear, that the machinations and persecutions of the wicked will prevent the Gospel from being preached.  The Lord is saying, Do not worry, for the Gospel will be made known to everyone, everywhere.  Just do as I tell you.

“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  The Lord returns to the subject of fear for their personal safety.  Down through the ages, from the time Adam and Eve lost immortality for the human race, people viewed death as the worst possible thing that could happen to a person.  They viewed it this way because death meant the end, extinction, though a person’s “shade” might persist for a time.  The Lord, however, revealed that the life of this world amounted to only the beginning of life for those who believed in God.  And this new life would make us forget about the pains of this life: “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed to us” (Romans 8, 18).  The soul, Jesus reveals, is beyond the power of any man because it is in the hands of God.  “Be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  It is God alone who has power over the soul, and he will allow those who persevere in wickedness to suffer the consequences of their actions in hell.  “Gehenna” is a valley outside the city of Jerusalem into which trash was thrown and often burnt.  It was also a place where, during the time of the Kingdom of Judea, wicked priests and kings offered human sacrifices to pagan gods (cf. 2 Chronicles 28, 3).

“Even all the hairs of your head are counted.”  Each of us is fully accounted for in God’s marvelous Providence, and he dwells through his grace in each believer.  He knows us intimately and thoroughly.  He knows every action we have performed, no matter how slight and unconscious, and every reason for it: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, you know it through and through (Psalm 139:3-4).”

“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”  The Greek word translated here as “acknowledge” also has the meanings of “profess”, “confess”, and “praise”. Any of these options work better than the vague “acknowledge”.  One “acknowledges” the existence of another, but to “profess”, “confess”, or to “praise” express knowledge of another and allegiance to him.  We confess and praise God through our good deeds as well as verbally.  In fact, we act like Christians without regard for what anyone else thinks.  The reward for this is that our Lord will praise us before his Father in the life to come.  We ought to dwell on this, that the infinite and all-powerful Son of God who died for our sins will praise you and me for the comparatively little things we did for him here on earth!

We have no reason to fear anyone but have every reason to rejoice always (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17).

Saturday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, June 20, 2026

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 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.”

“No one can serve two masters.”  In our modern world many different masters make demands on us.  Often these conflict with one another.  Men and women engage in demanding careers and then try to still be a spouse and parent.  Many people work more than one job, perhaps a main job and then a side gig that they hope will turn into the main job.  Those with dual citizenships are sometimes cast into difficult situations.  We may pride ourselves on our ability to multi-task, too.  In the end, we have to choose because it is unsustainable to have multiple masters.  Portable phones and computers have aggravated the situation because now we can work or communicate with others in places where our attention ought to be focused on higher priorities. 

The Lord begins to speak on this subject in what seems to us a general way: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.”  We ought to consider the societal context to gain understanding.  When we say “master” today we mean something very different from what the Lord  meant when he used the term.  In the Lord’s day, a “master” was someone who owned slaves.  The slave was dependent on the master for his life, and to disregard his master’s command for another’s was to put his life in jeopardy.  Only if he deeply despised his master could he risk obeying the other man, otherwise the other man represented a threat to his existence and so he would be despised.

“You cannot serve God and mammon.”  The Lord here gives a prime example of what he means by two masters.  The Greek word translated as “serve” here means “to be subject to”, or “to be a slave to”.  Here we see another word that means something entirely different now than it did two thousand years ago.  The Lord is telling us that we are either God’s slaves or mammon’s, that is, the pursuit of wealth.   We can either slave for God or slave for money.  If we slave for God we will enjoy his presence here on earth during our lifetimes, and will enter its ecstasy in heaven.  If we slave for mammon. We may or may not become wealthy, and we will not live long  after we obtain wealth.  Then, because we have rejected God, we will suffer forever.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.”  The Lord now turns back to explain what it means to accept God as one’s Master.  Because the slave belongs to the master, it is the master’s responsibility to shelter, clothe, and feed him.  Thus, the slave did not have to worry about finding shelter, clothes, or food.  They were provided.  Therefore, the slave need not “worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.”  The one who belongs to the Lord Jesus has even less worry in this regard, for Jesus is not a harsh master who thinks little of his slaves, but a tender Master who thinks only of his slaves.  In fact, he even calls us “friends” (cf. John 15, 15) though we remain in bondage to him.  “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  That is, we ought to pay little attention to these things.  The Lord will see to them so that we can devote ourselves to our life of serving him.

“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?”  This brings to mind these lovely verses from the Psalms: “You have made [man] a little less than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor and have set him over the works of your hands. You have subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, moreover, the beasts also of the fields, the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea” (Psalm 8, 6-9).  

“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?”  This line in the lectionary does not translate very well the Greek, which says, “Can any of you, being anxious, add one cubit to your stature?”  One of the differences between the two translations is the participle I have translated as “being anxious”.  That is, “being anxious” is a persistent state for someone — he or she is an anxious person.  The lectionary reading implies that “worry” is used as a tool in order to gain a moment of life.  The anxious person is in a worse state than one who can utilize worry.  This is anxious one is Martha, to whom the Lord said, “You are worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10, 41).  He counsels her to follow her sister’s example: to sit at his feet and to listen to his word.  That is, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.”  The “cubit” mentioned in the text would measure between two and three feet, so this would make a substantial increase in height for someone.  It could make a person of average height a giant.  A person can become a giant, but, as the Lord says, an anxious person cannot achieve this.  The one who is the “greatest” will be the servant of all, in the servitude of Jesus Christ, for “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23, 12) by Almighty God.