THE GOSPEL FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY SUNDAY

NO ONE can serve two masters, for he must either hate the one and love the other, or hold fast to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your bodies, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more than they? But who among you can add one cubit to your height, even though you worry about it? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today and is cast into the oven tomorrow, would he not much more clothe you, you of little faith! Therefore you should not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”—the pagans seek all such things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own. [Mt 6:24–34]