A Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

+ “Quaerite ergo primum regnum Dei, et justitiam euis: et haec omnia ajicientur vobis.” Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
 
Money. Food. Shelter, protection and clothing. The necessity of these things for life in this world is a reality, and it is a matter of prudence to provide for them. One cannot and one should not amble carelessly throughout life without due attention to the material needs thereof. Much less may one do so if one’s vocation is to Christian marriage and parenthood: children must be provided for as best as we are able. Even the fathers of monasteries are directed by Saint Benedict to appoint a wise and prudent cellarer to ensure that what is required is given at the proper times, so that “no one may be troubled or vexed in the house of God.” (Rule, ch. 31)
 
If we read Our Lord’s words in today’s Holy Gospel as enjoining the disdain of material goods upon his followers, or indeed as forbidding their use, we are in error. Our Lord ate. His disciples had a treasurer (cf. Jn 12:6). They wore clothes. No. There is no disincarnated spiritualism or other-worldly destitutionism advocated here.   
 
What there is, however, is a very clear teaching of fundamental priorities. Our Lord teaches us to first seek the kingdom of God and then, second, to seek to be righteousness in God’s sight. Consequent to these things, He assures us that all the material things of which we (truly) have need shall be ours in addition. If our first concern is the worship of money or material things, we cannot love God. If we strive to love God, truly – with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (cf. Lk 10:27) – and to live according to His Law, our material needs shall not be a concern.
 
Our material needs may not be a concern because of the abundant blessings of God’s Providence. We may even become materially rich, and whilst great wealth could itself become an occasion of sin, to be rich is not sinful in itself. Indeed, the proper use of material goods, for the Glory of God, the due provision for those for whom one is responsible and for the relief of those with fewer means, is virtuous.
 
Or, our material needs may not be a cause of worry because our very seeking of God and His righteousness give us a detachment and a contentedness with what resources we have, howsoever meagre they may be. If we already possess the pearl of great price (cf. Mt 13:45-46), what need have we of more besides? Even in material adversity we can praise God together with the dispossessed Job: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
 
The anxiety of which Our Lord speaks in the Holy Gospel today is a reality well beyond the realm of material resources. Young people seeking God’s will for their life are often beset with doubts and worries and interminable questions which can paralyse the heart, mind and soul and ultimately frustrate God’s plan. Just as I cannot know that in the future I shall have all the material things I want, I cannot demand that God signs a contract of employment drawn up on my terms when He calls me to follow Him. No, I must first seek God and His righteousness. In the daily doing so my concerns shall be resolved – according to God’s plan, not my own preoccupations.
 
So too, in the life of the universal Church, these days and our particular circumstances give rise to many worries, some of which seem not to be without substance or gravity. Are we to allow these threats, real or imagined, to consume and cripple us?
 
We are surely right to be prudent in respect of dangers, but we cannot allow them to transfix us. Our forebears knew persecution and martyrdom. The Knights Templar and Knights of Malta who worshipped within these very walls for centuries experienced betrayal by the highest authorities of the State and even the Church. There exists no vaccine against such possibilities attacking us again today.
 
Nevertheless, then, as today, the solution is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. If we do that today and persevere in so doing tomorrow and every day that is given to us on this earth, all that we need – even in extraordinary circumstances – shall be given to us. A monk who is faithful to his monastery and choir stall will have no reason ultimate reason to fear. Clergy who attend diligently to the God-given needs of the flock entrusted to their care shall not be left wanting. Lay men and women who are faithful to the duties of their particular vocation need not fear deprivation. Indeed, all shall be richly rewarded.
 
It is with this confidence that we approach the altar of God this morning, begging an increase in grace and in the ability to live as righteous sons and daughters of God’s Kingdom today and in whatever circumstances confront us tomorrow. +