St Luke Chapter XII : Verses 22-32
Contents
- Luke xii. Verses 22-32. Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
- Douay-Rheims 1582 text
- Annotations based on the Great Commentary
Luke xii. Verses 22-32.
 |
| Solomon enthroned. See verse 27. J-J Tissot. Jewish Museum (NY) |
Dixitque ad discipulos suos : Ideo dico vobis, nolite solliciti esse animae vestrae quid manducetis, neque corpori quid induamini.
23 The life is more than the meat, and the body is more than the raiment.
Anima plus est quam esca, et corpus plus quam vestimentum.
24 Consider the ravens, for they sow not, neither do they reap, neither have they storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much are you more valuable than they?
Considerate corvos, quia non seminant, neque metunt, quibus non est cellarium, neque horreum, et Deus pascit illos. Quanto magis vos pluris estis illis?
25 And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?
Quis autem vestrum cogitando potest adjicere ad staturam suam cubitum unum?
26 If then ye be not able to do so much as the least thing, why are you solicitous for the rest?
Si ergo neque quod minimum est potestis, quid de ceteris solliciti estis?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these.
Considerate lilia quomodo crescunt : non laborant, neque nent : dico autem vobis, nec Salomon in omni gloria sua vestiebatur sicut unum ex istis.
28 Now if God clothe in this manner the grass that is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith?
Si autem fœnum, quod hodie est in agro, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit : quanto magis vos pusillae fidei?
29 And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink: and be not lifted up on high.
Et vos nolite quærere quid manducetis, aut quid bibatis : et nolite in sublime tolli :
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek. But your Father knoweth that you have need of these things.
hæc enim omnia gentes mundi quaerunt. Pater autem vester scit quoniam his indigetis.
31 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Verumtamen quærite primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus : et haec omnia adjicientur vobis.
32 Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.
Nolite timere pusillus grex, quia complacuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum.
Douay-Rheims : 1582 text
22. And he said to his Diſciples: Therfore I ſay to you, Be not careful for your life, what you ſhal eate; nor for your body, what you ſhal put on.
23. The life is more then the meate, and the body is more then the raiment.
24. Consider the rauens, for they ſow not, neither doe they reape, which neither haue ſtorehouse nor barne, and God feedeth them. How much more are you of greater price then they?
25. And which of you by caring can adde to his ſtature one cubite?
26. If then you be not able to doe so much as the leasſt thing, for the reſt why are you careful?
27. Consider the lillies how they grow: they labour not, neither doe they ſpinne. But I ſay to you, Neither Salomon in al his glorie was araied as one of thesſe.
28. And if the graſſe that to day is in the field, and to morow is cast into the ouen, God so clotheth; how much more you, O ye of litle faith?
29. And you, doe not ſeeke what you ſhal eate, or what you ſhal drinke: and be not lifted vp on high.
30. For al these things the Nations of the world doe ſeeke. But your Father knoweth that you haue need of these things.
31. But ſeeke first the Kingdom of God, and al theſe things ſhal be giuen you besides.
32. ⋮Feare not litle flocke, for it hath pleaſed your Father to giue you a Kingdom.
Annotations
[The following notes are based on those in the Great Commentary on St Matthew's Gospel, retaining the verse numbers in St Luke's Gospel.]
22. And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on. For your life, Vulg., anima, “for your soul.” For it has need of food, not strictly speaking, but that it may be kept in the body, and animate the body. And again, in the soul resides all sense of food, all taste of and pleasure in it. For the soul, i.e., for the life, as S. Augustine says, because the soul is the cause of life.
be not solicitous, take no anxious thought, lest, through care, ye be troubled with anxiety and distress; for the desire of gathering wealth divides the mind, and distracts it with various cogitations, cares, and anxieties, and as it were cuts it in twain. Christ, then, does not forbid provident diligence and labour in procuring the necessaries of life for ourselves and those who belong to us, as the Euchitæ maintained, who wished to pray always without working, against whom S, Augustine wrote a book, On the Work of Monks. But Christ forbids anxious, untimely, fearful solicitude, care that distrusts God, a heart grovelling in the earth, and distracted from the service of God.
And in order that He may remove it from us, He gives us seven reasons or arguments against it. The 1st is in this verse in the words which immediately follow; this reason is from the care which God has of our bodies. The 2nd reason is drawn from the birds, for whom God cares and whom He feeds. The 3rd, in ver. 25, from the uselessness of all our care without God. The 4th, in ver. 27, from the lilies and the grass, which God clothes and adorns. 5th, in ver. 30, because such a care is fit only for pagans, not for Christians. 6th, in ver. 30, because God knows all things, and it pertains to His providence to provide us sustenance, that He should add food to those who seek the kingdom of God. [The 7th, ver. 34, in chapter vi of St Matthew's Gospel, because sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.] So many arguments does Christ use, because by far the greater part of mankind labour under this undue anxiety about providing food and raiment for themselves and their families, which is a great misery, and more than asinine toil.
23. The life is more than the meat, and the body is more than the raiment. This is the first reason drawn from a minor to a major probability, as though He said, “God who gave us our souls and bodies, yea, created them out of nothing, and who continually, as it were, recreates them, He surely will give those things which are less, as food and clothes, without which the body cannot subsist. As S. Chrysostom says, “When God is our Feeder, there is no need to be anxious, for ‘the rich have wanted, and suffered hunger, but they that seek after the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good.’ ” (Ps. xxxiii. Vulg.)
24. Consider the ravens, for they sow not, neither do they reap. If God feeds the irrational birds, who are not anxious about their living, and gives them corn and food which they have not laboured for, how much more will He feed you, who are reasoning men, created after His Image, you who are His sons and heirs, and redeemed with the Blood of Christ. He compares men not to the oxen of the earth, but to the birds of heaven, to teach them that they ought to be heavenly, and be like birds, and fly away in spirit from earth to heaven, and expect from God necessary food both for their souls and bodies. For the birds are contented with provision for the day, and are not anxious about to-morrow, but rest calmly on God’s providence, and give up their leisure time to flight and song. “Christ,” says S. Chrysostom, “might have brought forward the examples of Moses, Elias, John, who were not anxious about their food, but He preferred to take the irrational birds, that He might the more deeply impress His hearers.” For why cannot men do what birds do? Why should men be anxious when birds are not?
S. Francis
had a wonderful delight in birds, especially in larks, and used to invite them to sing the praises of God. So a little after his death, some larks came and assisted at his funeral. In a vast multitude they flew to the roof of the house in which his body lay, and circling around it with gladness more than common, they celebrated the praise and glory of the Saint. He was accustomed to compare the brethren of his Order to larks, and to exhort them to imitate them. “For the lark,” he said, “has a crest like a cap. So also the Friars minor wear a cowl, or hood, to put them in mind that they ought to imitate the humility and innocence of boys, who hide their faces in their caps. 2. The lark is of an ashen colour, and the frock of the brethren is of an ashen grey, to put them in mind of the saying of God to the first-formed man, “Remember that thou art dust, or ashes, and unto ashes thou shalt return.” 3. Larks live in poverty without anxiety, they pluck the grains which the earth affords; so also the brethren profess poverty; they live by begging, without care, placing their hope of a harvest in the providence of God and the charity of the faithful. 4. Larks, as soon as they have found a grain and eaten it, are borne by a direct flight aloft towards heaven, that they may shun the eyes of beholders, singing as they fly, and returning thanks to God, the Parent and Nourisher of all creatures. The brethren do the same, “for man hath eaten angels’ food,” i.e., bread asked of alms. And the angels incite those who are rich to give the brethren bread when they beg. Lastly, larks are called in Latin, alaudœ, from laus, praise, because they praise God by their constant songs. So also the brethren despise earthly things, and seek for heavenly, because they are strangers on earth, and citizens of heaven, and they know they have been called by God for this object, that they may praise Him perpetually with psalmody, by preaching and by a holy life. (See Luke Wadding, in Annal. Minor. A. C. 1226, num. 39 et alii.)
Listen to S. Ambrose (Serm. in c. 1. Malachi):
“The birds,” he says, “give thanks for worthless food, wilt thou banquet on the most precious feasts and be ungrateful? Who then that has the feeling of a man should not blush to close the day without the singing of psalms, when the birds themselves manifest their exceeding gladness by the melody of their hymns? And who would not sound His praises in spiritual songs, whose praises the birds pronounce with their modulated notes? Imitate, then, my brother, the tiny birds by giving thanks to thy Creator every morning and evening. And if thou hast greater devotion, then imitate the nightingale for whom the day is not long enough to sing praise, but makes sweet the night watches by her melody. So do thou, passing the day in giving thanks and praise, add to this employment the hours of the night.”
25. And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? Gr. μεριμνῶν, i.e., being solicitous, anxiously thoughtful, or careful. “If the thought and solicitude and labour be utterly vain, by which a man would wish to devise some plan whereby he might add one cubit to his stature, so that he should be higher or taller, yea though he should cogitate for a thousand years, and torment himself by devising plans, he would never accomplish it; how much more vain is that anxious care by which men strive to prolong life by anxiety and their own pains. For as it is the office of God alone to increase the body which He has created, and make it attain its proper stature, so much more is it His by His fatherly providence, to preserve and lengthen out to its appointed end the life which he has given, and supply it with necessary food.”
Euthymius here takes notice that a cubit is spoken of because a cubit is the proper measurement for a man’s height. For every properly proportioned man is four cubits in height, and four in width; that is, when his arms are extended from his shoulders. This extension of the arms is the measure of every man’s stature. And thus man is found to be four-square, that is to say, as broad as he is long; to teach him to be four-sided and solid in constancy and virtue.
27. Consider the lilies, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. This is the fourth argument, drawn from the beauty of lilies. He intimates that as lilies grow, and are nourished, they are clothed in their petals as with raiment. The beauty, fragrance, grace, and elegance with which God adorns lilies are very wonderful. (See Pliny, lib. 21, c. 5.)
Christ makes mention of lilies in connection with Solomon’s robe, or cloak, because it was of a shining white colour, and ornamented with flowers of lilies, worked or embroidered upon it with a needle, and vying with lilies in its beauty. Such was the nature of the robes worn by kings and princes. Hear Pausanias (in Eliacis, lib. 5); where he describes an image of Jupiter: “Besides other things, he had a pallium of cloth of gold, on which were embroidered animals of many kinds, but especially lilies.” (See Pineda, lib. 6 de rebus Salomonis, c. 5.
Anagogically, lilies and vestments embroidered with lilies represent the robe of glory and immortality with which Christ shall clothe His elect in heaven. Wherefore, Ps. xliv. is entitled, For Lilies, or For those who shall be changed, viz., from death to immortality, from misery to glory. Wherefore Hilary says that by the lilies which neither toil, nor spin, the brightness of the heavenly angels is signified, upon whom, in a manner surpassing the erudition of human learning, the brightness of glory has been placed by God. And since, in the Resurrection, all the saints shall be like the angels, He desires us to hope for the robe of glory after the fashion of angelic splendour.
Moreover how lovely lilies are, and how they adorn princes at their nuptials, especially Solomon and Christ, and how greatly Solomon delighted in them is plain from his Song of Songs, where he often says of the bridegroom, “He feedeth among lilies.” And again, “I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” (ii. 1-2, Vulg.).
Now Christ prefers the loveliness of lilies to the garments of Solomon, which were made of silver tissue, embroidered with lilies, because they being natural surpass all the elegance of art, which is nothing more than an imitation and adumbration of reality. For art is, as it were, the ape of nature, and as much as a shadow is surpassed by the reality which causes it, so much is nature superior to art. As S. Jerome says, “What silk, what regal purple, what figures of embroidery, can be compared to flowers? What is as red as a rose? What is as fair as a lily? And that the purple of the violet is surpassed by no marine shell-fish is the judgment of the eye rather than of speech.”
Tropologically, lilies are virgins, who, by increasing in virtues, grow in God, and are clothed with the garments of grace now and of glory hereafter. Whence it is said in ii. 2 Cant., “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.”
28. Now if God clothe in this manner the grass that is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith? To the beautiful lilies he adds the humble grass and hay for greater emphasis. The Greek is χόρτον, herb or grass. “If God clothe the grass in the fields with such greenness, with such fair blades and germs, which to-day is green and to-morrow is cut down and dry, and becomes hay, and is cast into the oven or furnace to heat it that it may bake bread, how much more will He clothe you, who are believing men, and His own sons and friends? You, I say, who, without any reason, are of little faith in the providence of God?” Observe that by this rebuke Christ shows that the common anxiety about food and raiment is born of distrust in Divine providence. For if men thoroughly trusted in it they would not be so anxious, but would securely rest upon it. And then, with moderate labour and trusting in Him, God would provide them with all needful things.
30. For all these things do the nations of the world seek. This is the fifth argument, that anxiety about these earthly things is the mark of a Pagan, and does not become Christians, who believe in the providence of God, yea, who feel and experience it every day.
But your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. The sixth argument. God truly knows what ye have need of in the way of food and clothes; He sees and beholds your wants, because He is God. Therefore He will provide for them, because He loves you as His children, for He is your Father, and He is able to provide, because He is your Heavenly and Almighty Father. Why then do ye not roll off all your care upon Him? For He both knows and is willing and able to succour your necessity. Whence S. Francis was wont to give his brethren no other provision for a journey than the words of the Psalmist, “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.” (Ps. liv. 23.) Where for care the Hebrew has jehabcha, which the Chaldee renders, thy hope; S. Jerome, thy love; Vatablus, thy weight, thy burden, i.e., thy solicitudes, thine anxieties, thy troubles, thy poverty, and whatever burdens thee and weighs thee down. The Roman Psalter has, thy cogitation. The root of the word is יהב yahab, signifying the desire of one who asks, whatever stirs and draws out thy anxious prayer. And He shall nourish thee. The Hebrew is, shall sustain, shall perfect, shalt take care of thee. S. Peter says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.” And S. Paul writes to the Philippians, “Be careful for nothing, but in all prayer and supplication with giving of thanks, let your requests be made known unto God.” See what is there said. We have a narrow mind, slender shoulders, a little strength. But God has the far-reaching eyes of His providence, and corresponding shoulders. For He is the true Atlas, who sustains heaven and earth upon His shoulders.
31. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice. Gr. προσθήσεται shall be set before you, as SS. Cyprian and Augustine read, as bread and meat are set before a hungry beggar in a rich man’s house. First, not so much in time as in dignity says S. Augustine, in estimation and appreciation. Seek chiefly and above all things the kingdom of God, esteem it above all other things, count it as of highest value, but count temporal goods of small worth, and as only to be sought after in subordination to the kingdom of God, as things which are added by God, overweight, so to say, so far, that is, as they conduce to our real good.
Wherefore they err who say:—
“O citizens, O citizens, first money get:Then, after that, on virtue’s crown your hearts be set.”
Such is the error of those who at this day seek after and procure rich appointments, benefices, dignities, bishoprics, with all diligence, but think little of the responsibility and their own capabilities, and little of their own eternal salvation. The kingdom of God, i.e., His heavenly kingdom, eternal glory and happiness, and His righteousness, viz., the means which lead us to the kingdom of God, such as God’s grace, virtue, good and righteous works, by which we become righteous, or more just before God, works which God has prescribed and commanded that we should do them.
and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore they are not the reward of good works, for this is wholly kept for us in heaven, says S. Augustine, but they shall be added as overweight, a little trifling addition to the infinite reward.
[The following notes are based on those in the Great Commentary on St Luke's Gospel.]
29. And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink: and be not lifted up on high. Cornelius comments on this reading, this passage is explained in many different ways. S. Clement of Alexandria (Pœd. lib. ii. 10) says, “Be not led away from the truth to wish for a higher wisdom than faith teaches.”
Secondly, S. Augustine (Lib. ii. Quœst. 29, Evang. Quœst.): “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.”
Be not anxious about the heavenly bodies over your head—the constellations of the stars and their courses—the shifting of the clouds—the breath of the winds, so as to judge from them of the future abundance or deficiency of your crops; as in Jer. x. 2, “Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them;” and Eccles. xi. 4, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” So Toletus, Vatablus, &c. Vatablus says, “Be not uneasy, as one who turns his face askance to the heavens from anxiety.” “Be not wavering in your minds as a pendulum in the air, looking to human assistance in different directions, and not anchoring on the providence of God.” The Arabic version says, “Be ye not anxious.” For all things point in this direction, that Christ will remove from us too great anxiety as to our support and clothing, and will impress on us a sure confidence in God by which to look with certainty to His Fatherly providence for all these things. The Greek word μετέωρος conveys the idea of one whose mind is in doubt and suspense and is unfixed, who will judge by the result, and is, as Gaza calls it, “wavering” (pensilis). Others render it, “Do not look out from afar off,” or as we commonly say, Do not make a long discursus, as though you would have no room for a Divine Providence, or as if you doubted of it. And F. Lucas: “Be not over-anxious, as looking out with anxiety for what may happen in the far distant future, and taking thought long before for your future bodily needs, and looking forward in the distant times to come with solicitude about your food and clothing, as S. Matthew clearly explains it, ‘Be not therefore anxious for the morrow,’ ” vi. 34. All these words tend to the same point, forbidding us to show too great anxiety for the future, and directing us to resign it into the hands of Providence; to trust in it and securely rest upon it. Following this precept of Christ, S. Thomas wished and ordered all his brotherhood to live for the day and reserve nothing for the morrow, but to give what was over and above their day’s need to the poor; as being confident that God would provide for the morrow, as He did to Elijah and Paul the first hermit, sending them food daily by a raven; and as the children of Israel, who were certainly three millions, were fed daily in the desert with manna sufficient for their support, which was rained down upon them from heaven for forty years, while their clothes remained undamaged and perfect and even grew with the growing children.
32. Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. Fear not lest your food and raiment fail you, and lest, if you lay aside all anxiety and sell your goods and give to the poor, these things should not be added to you; if you seek firstly the kingdom of God. “Little flock,”—little, because, firstly, the faithful were so few and these poor either in position and property, or in election and feeling, or in spirit; for they despised the riches of the world that they might strive after those of heaven, and therefore, they were little in the eyes of the world, they were of no account, and were despised. But now that the faith of Christ has so spread throughout the whole world, that kings and princes are subdued to it, it is no longer a little flock but a most ample and powerful church. Secondly, the flock of faithful men is little if compared with the angels who are without number, says Euthymius, according to the words, Dan. vii. 10, “Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”
The flock is little if compared with the immense multitude of unbelievers and wicked. Bede adds, “It is called a little flock either on account of its humility or in comparison with the greater number of the reprobate. Then all the faithful, from the example of Christ, will willingly reduce themselves to Christian humility and poverty, especially the apostles and disciples of Christ. Hence Christ says, ‘Sell that thou hast.’ ” It appears that “flock” (pusillus) is here put in the nominative instead of the vocative as is done in other passages. This nominative is more forcible and significant than the vocative would be. Wherefore, although we might explain it by adding something, e.g., Fear not, you who are a little flock, that the nominative might remain, yet the nominative is more tersely and strongly put for the vocative by adding nothing. Fear not then, O ye faithful, for although you are a little flock, God estimates you highly, and has a great and peculiar care of you, and Christ the Lord is your shepherd, who will feed you abundantly, according to the words, “I am the good Shepherd” (S. John x. 11), and the others (Ps. xxii.1, 2), “The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:” S. Peter Chrysologus (serm. xxii.): “A small flock to the world is a large one to God;” and (xxiii.): “Humility has gained what pride lost, and the little flock has subdued entire and various savagenesses (nations) by its meekness; for the little flock conquered and destroyed as many kinds of beasts as it subdued nations to the yoke of Christ. It did this not by bearing but by suffering, not by fighting but by dying for Christ.”
for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. To you who are not slow, not idle, not presuming on the mere mercy of God, but who hear My words and truly obey them; who therefore bear your cross after Me, mortify your passions, and are continually zealous in good works. “To give,” not absolutely, but upon conditions—namely, that you persevere in My faith and love and in obedience even to death—for to Judas, who afterwards apostatised from Christ, the kingdom was not given. Christ gives the reason why the disciples, though a little flock and poor, should not fear lest needful things should be withheld from them, for He says, “Since God so loved you as to destine you for heavenly riches and the kingdom of God, He will assuredly not refuse you these worthless earthly riches, as far as they are necessary for your journey towards the kingdom of heaven, and that you may adorn it by your life and conversation.” So S. Cyril, in the Catena,
“He who has given you gifts of such great price, how will He be not merciful to you but suffer you to perish of hunger?”
+ + +
SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
No comments:
Post a Comment