And seek you not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be of anxious mind.
Read Chapter 12
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Neither be ye of doubtful mind. (The Greek and the Vulgate say, "Be ye not lifted up on high.") Cornelius comments on this reading, this passage is explained in many different ways. S. Clement of Alexandria (Pæd. lib. ii10) says, "Be not led away from the truth to wish for a higher wisdom than faith teaches."
Secondly, S. Augustine (Lib. ii. Qust29 , Evang. Qust.): "Be not puffed up with pride because you have much food and clothing. For to be proud of having abundance of provision, is like a wounded man boasting that he has many plasters at hand, when it would have been well for him not to have needed any."
Euthymius: "Be not dragged down from lofty and heavenly concerns to earthly ones, so as to study and pursue not the former but the latter." Theophylact: "Be not unstable, always imagining what is above you, as they do who are not content with the present but are always looking on to something greater."
Fifthly and best: Be not anxious about the heavenly bodies over your head—the...
He announced as a general law, useful and necessary for salvation, not only to the holy apostles but to all living on the earth, that people must seek his kingdom. He announced this, being sure that what he gives will be sufficient for them to be in need of nothing else. What, then, does he say? Fear not, little flock. And by “do not fear,” he means that they must believe that certainly and without doubt their heavenly Father will give the means of life to those who love him. He will not neglect his own. Rather he will open his hand to them—the hand which ever fills the universe with goodness. Commentary on Luke, Homily
Give away these earthly things, and win that which is in heaven. Give that which you must leave, even against your will, that you may not lose things later. Lend your wealth to God, that you may be really rich.Concerning the way in which to lend it, Jesus next teaches us saying, “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.” The blessed David teaches us exactly the same in the psalms, where by inspiration he says of every merciful and good man, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Worldly wealth has many foes. There are numerous thieves, and this world of ours is full of oppressors. Some plunder by secret means, while others use violence and tear it away even from those who resist. But no one can do damage to the wealth that is laid up above in heaven. God is its keeper, and he does not sleep. Commentary on Luke, Homily
And be not lifted up on high. St. Augustine (lib. ii. QQ. Evang. q. 29. t. 3, part 4, p. 257.) expounds it thus: do not value yourselves for the plenty and variety you have of things to eat. Others, by the Greek, look upon it as a metaphor, taken from meteors in the air, that appear high, and as it were in suspense whether to remain there or to fall down; so that they expound it: be not distracted and disturbed with various thoughts and cares how to live. (Witham)
The flock is little in the eyes of the world, but great in the eyes of God. It is little—because he calls glorious those whom he has trained to the innocence of sheep and to Christian meekness. The flock is little, not as the remnant of a big one, but as one which has grown from small beginnings. This little flock denotes the infancy of his newborn church, and immediately he promises that through the blessings of heaven this church will soon have the dignity of his kingdom.
