Consider the Lilies

8th Sunday of OT Homily

Readings 
Isaiah 49:14-15
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6: 24-34

​Pleasure and fear are strong impulses and motivations. They can drive a weak, feeble man to audacious acts and they can humble the bravest and strongest among us. 

For instance, a simple man who derives great pleasure from doing the will of God and tempers his passions through a righteous fear of the Lord is a just man. He knows God, he experiences God's love. On the other hand, the man who is led about by his passions constantly seeking one physical pleasure after another all the while fearing what will happen if he is truly ever discovered or if people really get to know him is a disaster. He distances himself more and more from God's love to the point where he eventually does not see God at all in his life and he slowly but surely drifts away from Christ and His Church. 

Jesus confronts each of us today. If a bird, doing what a bird is supposed to do, is cared and provided for by the Lord, what other way is there to the Lord than to strip down the vestiges in our life and purify our motivations so we are doing the Lord's will without thought or concern for the morrow?