Look at the birds in the sky
21 JUNE (Mt 6,24-34)
The Gospel is made of clear rules and hidden rules. The hidden rules are the ones that give effect to the clear rules. One of these hidden rules goes as follows: the Lord serves whoever serves him. If we serve the Lord, the Lord is obliged to serve us. If we serve ourselves, the Lord is free from any commitment toward us. If I serve the Lord, do His will, obey his every command, live of Commandments and Beatitudes, listen to his every word, I put myself entirely at his disposal, it is out of righteousness that the Lord puts himself at my service. I serve Him. He serves me. I put myself at his disposal. The Lord puts himself at my disposal.
The word of the Gospel which speaks of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air tells us how the Lord is compassionate toward all his creatures. Every creature obeys his will naturally and fulfills his will naturally. This is the mystery of nature. It is always obedient to its God. For it to be able to do what the Lord has created it, it is right that the Lord is its providence, its life, its food, its clothes, its everything. It is out of necessity of existence, of being and of nature. If God did not provide, the creature could not carry out its mandate, its role and its mission. But the creature has no will. It obeys naturally.
The man is endowed with a will. He can say yes to his Lord, but can also say no to him. If he says yes to his every word, he enters his service. The man serves God, God puts immediately in the service of the man. Without the service of God, man could never perform the service that was requested him. God must necessarily serve him. The service is needed to God, and never might God forget the need of his service in favour of his faithful servants. Since God needs my service and I want to serve him and serve him; He puts himself at my complete disposal so that nothing is missing to what I was asked to do. This law reveals us that God has a vital need to serve himself and always intervenes in his favour. But man must put himself in his service with love, purity of heart and mind, freedom of soul and spirit and total devotion to Him.
“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 splendour 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.
For who is God providence, mercy, pity, compassion, help, support, food, clothing, water and any other property? For all those who put themselves in his service. God needs our service and always puts us in the best condition to be able to serve him with love, dignity, honesty, high moral character, sum Justice and perfect charity. Seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, this means: putting yourself entirely in the service of the truth of the Gospel, according to the truth of the Gospel. It is truth of the Gospel to always give the surplus to the poor. This is also seeking the kingdom of God and its righteousness. When we act according to the holiness of the Word, living in its holiness, the Lord always intervenes and does for us his work which is most high and infinite providence.
Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us researchers of the Kingdom.