"And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that,why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomonin all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of kale faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink nor be anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek h kingdom, and these things shall be yours as welt

"Fear not, little flock for for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. " Luke 12: 23-34

Comment from the Navarre Bible:*
Jesus does not condemn reasonable concern to acquire the necessities of life, but he teaches that one's efforts in this direction should be ordered towards one's last end, the possession of the Kingdom. Therefore, he says that earthy things will be given us as an added extra, "not as a good on which you should fix your attention", St. Augustine explains, "but as a means of enabling you to reach the true and highest good." (De Serm. Domini in monte, 11, 24) The material instinct to preserve one's life is something divine providence has built into man's make up. But this instinct should be channeled through well-organized effort and should not take the form of anxious concern which would cause one to forget the most important thing of all, inverting the Christian hierarchy of values by putting material concerns ahead of spiritual welfare. (p. 160)

* The Navarre Bible is a renown edition of Sacred Scripture prepared by members of the Faculty of Theology of Navarre University.

AD VERITATEM
St. Thomas More Society
1102 N. Niguel Canyon Way
Brea, CA 92821
Attn: Anne Lanphar
alanphar@firstam.com