Chapter 6
Mt6.1 Beware of doing your good works before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. – Keep yourself. This is a most serious warning that Jesus intends to give his listeners; therefore, he urges them to great vigilance in their conduct: the spiritual adversary against whom he wants to warn them is so dangerous, so subtle. He slips so skillfully even into the holiest souls. So, beware. – The good works… represent holiness, virtue in general. Associated with the verb TO DO By imitation of the very ancient Hebrew expression, Genesis 18:19 and elsewhere, it is equivalent to the more Latin expression "to give examples of one's virtue" (cf. Matthew 23:5). In front of men The warning "beware" does not focus on these two words; Jesus would be contradicting himself (cf. v. 16), and he would also be contradicting the nature of things if he wanted to prevent good works from being outwardly manifested. What he forbids is good done ostentatiously, good done directly to attract the attention of others. To be seen by them. There, he indicated a natural consequence of the act, while assuming that the agent had a distinct end in mind, "and that they glorify..."; now he indicates the real goal, the agent's innermost intention. It is one thing, therefore, to simply do good without scruple before men for the greater glory of God, and quite another to display one's acts of supposed virtue in public out of a spirit of vainglory and self-love. "The action can even be done in public provided that it remains secret in intention, so that we may give our neighbor the example of good works that we always wish to keep secret, seeking to please only God," says St. Gregory the Great, reconciling these two passages, Hom. 11 in Evang. These proud people possess only a theatrical holiness. Vanity, that great thief of merit, is the enemy that Jesus recommends we actively combat. – And why must we fight and defeat it? Otherwise you will not receive a reward. The reward is already prepared in heaven, belonging in advance to those for whom it is destined. Beside your Father… God owes nothing and gives nothing to those who have done nothing for him: that is strict justice.
Mt6.2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with a trumpet, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Verses 2-18 The three principal duties of religious life: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting: Tobit 12:8; 14:10; Judith 4:9; Ecclesiastes 29:11. SO…, since it is truly so, since there is no heavenly reward to be hoped for when one is virtuous only for oneself. Almsgiving. This important duty of religious life towards one's neighbor, this duty so frequently and strongly instilled on every page of the Old Testament, on every page of the Talmud, first and foremost drew the attention of the Messiah. Jesus indicates in this verse how it should not be fulfilled. Don't sound the trumpet. Should we take these words literally, as many commentators have done, and believe that the Pharisees actually used to announce their almsgiving by trumpet blast, like charlatans trying to attract attention from afar? This opinion is not improbable in itself, for we will see the Pharisaic school invent more absurd and immoral practices; nevertheless, since there is no trace of this practice in Jewish writings, it is perhaps better to accept, following St. John Chrysostom and most exegetes, that this is merely a forceful metaphor, deliberately chosen by Our Lord to vividly depict the noisy way in which some people gave alms. «He says this not because they had trumpets but to show their great folly. By this metaphor, he mocks them and denounces them,» St. John Chrysostom, Hom. This figure of speech exists in almost every language: the Greek corresponds to the Italian "strombettare," the German "ausposaunen," the English "to trumpet," etc. Compare the Ciceronian phrase: "Be, you, the panegyrist or the trumpeter of my glory," Cicero, *Ad Divinibus* 16, 21. In front of you With irony; before you, this holy man, this generous benefactor of humanity. Like hypocrites do. A hypocrite is a man who "answers," but on stage wearing a mask, consequently playing a role that is not truly his own; hence the odious meaning that this expression has gradually acquired. One can guess that Jesus is applying it to the Pharisees here, although he does not name them directly; later, he will not hesitate to throw it right in their faces. In the synagogues There, as in our churches, collections were taken up for the benefit of the poor; or else beggars readily chose these places of prayer to implore the pity of their brothers, knowing full well that man is always more inclined to charity when he has just fulfilled his religious duties. In the streets, That is to say, in places in cities where passersby congregate, for example, public squares and intersections. They received their reward ; "Vain desires bring vain reward," adds St. Augustine, referring to the loud but fleeting applause they sought. "What is shown outwardly is deprived of all reward inwardly." (St. Gregory, Hom. 12 in Evang.).
Mt6.3 For you, when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing., – The proper way to give alms. Don't know…; an even more forceful metaphor, yet one that very delicately expresses the restraint with which one must help one's brothers. The Pharisees are showing themselves; Christians They should avoid, if possible, even their own gaze when doing good. “You must even take care to remain unaware of it yourself, if that is possible. One should even hide the hands that perform a work, as far as possible. Jesus commands that (the action) be hidden from everyone,” St. John Chrysostom. “If you do something good,” says an Eastern proverb, “throw it into the sea; the fish may not know, but God will.” One rabbi even went so far as to elevate anyone who gave alms in secret above Moses.
Mt6.4 so that your alms may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. – Reason why advertising should be avoided in one's alms. In secret Our good work will remain hidden from men, it is true, but God, for whom everything happens in broad daylight, will see it and will know how to reward us. You will return it This will be a true restitution, for, according to the beautiful popular axiom: He who gives to the poor lends to God. Cf. Ecclesiastes 39:15. At the end of this verse, the Recepta adds "in public," likewise in verses 6 and 18 (cf. Luke 14:4): however just the idea may be, it is nonetheless an interpolation, as the absence of any reliable witness proves. – The Chinese say, on the contrary: Spend your alms during the day, your reward will come during the night.
Prayer, vv. 5-15.
Mt6.5 When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. – From almsgiving, Jesus moves on to prayer, which is the great duty of religious life towards God, and he points out two serious faults that must be avoided. Don't be like the hypocrites…This is the first fault, which consists of an ostentation full of hypocrisy; indeed, there are men who like to parade their devotions as much as their almsgiving. The Savior stigmatizes them with a portrait that is nonetheless caustic in its simplicity. One would think one was seeing those Pharisees with their purely outward piety, draped in their prayer cloaks distinguished by their broad fringes, wearing their phylacteries on their foreheads and arms, standing in the most prominent place in the synagogues, or even at the corners of public squares, That is to say, at the intersection of squares and streets, because they made sure to be caught in the busiest passages during prayer times. To be seen by men ; Their goal will therefore be all the better achieved. There they are, facing the temple, affecting exaggerated modesty, murmuring a few verses from the Psalms. Passersby look at them and say to each other: "These are holy men.". They received their reward After all, they didn't want any other. Standing It was the Jewish custom to pray standing (cf. 1 Samuel 1:26; 1 Kings 8:2; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11). Sometimes, however, they also prayed kneeling or prostrate. The "orantes" (female figures) in the catacombs are frequently depicted standing with outstretched arms.
Mt6.6 But when you want to pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. – Here, as a counterpart, is another portrait, that of a disciple of Jesus in prayer. What a difference! Nothing theatrical, nothing affected. It is God alone whom one prays to, it is Him alone whom one wishes to please: everything takes place "in secret," between the soul and Him. In your room ; The corresponding Greek expression refers not only to the bedroom, but to any interior apartment whatsoever, as opposed to the public places mentioned in verse 5. And after closing the door These are obviously figures of speech, and they must be understood in spirit, like so many other sayings in the Sermon on the Mount. "What is said of the secret and locked door was taken from everyday language to designate what is done without fanfare," Rosenmüller, Schol. in hl. Jesus has no intention whatsoever of condemning public prayer in itself, much less prayer offered in churches; what he attacks is the vain self-indulgence, the pursuit of self that can be mixed in with it. You will return it He will reward your sincere piety.
Mt6.7 In your prayers, do not heap up many words as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.– A second fault into which one can fall during prayer. «It is not only ostentation that must be avoided in prayer, but also the vain loquacity of the pagans,» Fritzsche. Don't multiply the words says much less than Greek, which so aptly expresses the endless repetition of meaningless phrases, the tiresome multiplication of the same words to constantly repeat the same thing. Like the pagans. The incessantly repeated vocal prayers of the pagans are a well-known fact, which poets and philosophers have often mocked, calling this devotion of their coreligionists "tiring the gods, deafening their ears," and ironically maintaining that the gods could not grant a request "unless the same thing is said a hundred times." The Bible offers an example, 1 Kings 18:26: "They called on the name of Baal from morning till midday, saying, 'O Baal, answer us.'" The Jews had not been able to completely avoid "chattering" in prayer: Our Lord would later reproach the Pharisees for this failing in very explicit terms, Matthew 23:15, and did not the Rabbis affirm that "Every man is eventually heard by the sheer number of his words?" (Jerusalem, Taanith, f. 100). 67, 3. Thus foolishly imagining, like the pagans, that prayer is a kind of "opus operatum" and that the more words it contains, the more beneficial it is. – The following lines from St. Augustine anticipate and resolve an objection that might be raised concerning this verse: "Meandering speech is something other than prolonged feeling. Let the abundance of words be absent from prayer. Prayer will not cease to be great if the fervor of intention endures," Letter 130. "Talking a lot in prayer only serves to utter superfluous words. To pray much is to knock at the door of the one we pray to with a pious and continuous beating of the heart. For, most of the time, this duty is fulfilled more by groans than by words," Letter 121. Christ's censure does not at all apply to long prayers in themselves, but to long prayers that stem from superstition.
Mt6.8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. – Don't be like themthat is to say, "do not imitate them"; it is not necessary that Christians They act in this like the pagans. For your Father knows. Battology is therefore a ridiculous, useless, and, even worse, offensive thing to God, whom it supposes to be devoid of either knowledge or kindness toward us. He knows all our needs before he has heard our groans and pleas; it is therefore unnecessary to present him with a thousand arguments to convince him. – But why pray to him, if he already knows everything? St. John Chrysostom answers: «Not so that you may lecture him, but so that you may soften his heart. So that through the multitude of your supplications you may become familiar to him, so that you may humble yourself and remember your sins.» (Matthew 19).
Mt6.9 Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. – So… you… «Thus» and «you» are emphatic. The adverb «thus,» however, is not synonymous with «more briefly, more simply,» nor even with «in this sense»; rather, it means «in the following way.» Indeed, although Jesus Christ in no way obliges his disciples to always use the Lord’s Prayer to the exclusion of other prayers, he nevertheless offers them here not only a model of supplication, but a veritable formula that they cannot repeat too often. This is how the Church understood it, which very early on incorporated the «Our Father» into its liturgy; this is how the Christian sentiment understood it, for which there is no sweeter or more precious prayer. – We will find in the third Gospel, Luke 11:2-4, an abridged version of the «Our Father,» given by Our Lord at a later time in his life and in entirely different circumstances. It is true that several exegetes have tried to establish a unity between the two accounts; but their efforts have been in vain, as the evangelists show most clearly that they are reporting entirely distinct events. Moreover, nothing prevents Jesus from having taught this prayer to his disciples twice. – It is unnecessary to dwell on the admirable beauty of the Lord's Prayer. It was revealed to us by the Incarnate Word, who knows from experience what is fitting for the God to whom the Lord's Prayer is addressed, what is necessary for the person who recites it: what more could be said to praise it? It is simple and sublime at the same time; it is the prayer of all, and all repeat it happily without ever growing weary, because it corresponds to all aspirations, because it expresses all necessities, those of time and the visible world, as well as those of the invisible world and eternity. What richness lies in this condensed form! What an inexhaustible fullness of holy desires and great ideas! Tertullian could not, without exaggeration, call it an "abridgement of the entire Gospel." It has sometimes been claimed, following Wetstein, that "This entire prayer was drawn from the formulas of the Hebrews": this is a mistake. By searching through all the ancient and modern rabbinic writings, and even the most recent Jewish rituals, only a few similarities have been found between Israelite prayers and the Lord's Prayer, which are explained, moreover, by borrowings made on both sides from the Old Testament. – A word about the inner structure of the "Our Father." It consists of a short invocation, a prayer proper, and a conclusion. The prayer, which forms the core of the composition, comprises two parts: the first concerns God, while the second concerns humankind, so that one might distinguish two tablets in the Lord's Prayer, as in the Law of Sinai. There are three petitions in the first part and four in the second, at least according to the division commonly adopted in the Latin Church. The Greek Fathers count only three petitions in each part, for they combine under a single title, "Do not abandon us…" and "Deliver us from evil." The supplicant's soul thus begins by soaring toward God, to praise Him and make fervent vows for His glory; then, humbled by its own needs, it turns back upon itself and implores the Lord to come to its aid. David, that great master of prayer, usually follows a similar pattern in those of his Psalms whose principal purpose is petition. The distinction between the two parts is clearly accentuated, especially by the repetition of possessive pronouns, which is very effective, first highlighting the wishes, then the supplications.« Your Name, your reign, your will; give We… OUR bread, put back We our debts…, not We Don't give up..., free We… The desire for the Messianic kingdom, which forms the basis of this magnificent prayer, binds all its elements together, so as to make it a single note lovingly offered to God. – Let us conclude this preamble with an excellent reflection from St. Cyprian: »He who gave life also taught us to pray… and when we speak to the Father with the prayer and meditation that the Son taught us, he listens to us more readily… Friendly and familiar prayer consists in praying to God with what belongs to him, in raising to his ears the prayer of Christ.« We now turn to the detailed explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. The words Our Father who art in heaven constitute its exordium or prologue. “The Lord’s Prayer has its own rhetoric,” Maldonat aptly observes. Indeed, is not this name of Father placed at the beginning, according to the reflection of St. Thomas Aquinas, a true “search for benevolence”? It is a powerful appeal addressed from the outset to kindness and to the power of the God we invoke; it is at the same time, for ourselves, at the moment we begin to pray, a word of encouragement that stimulates our confidence. “The name of father awakens in us love"The necessary confidence to plead, and the presumptuous assurance of obtaining everything; for what does He not give to children who He who gave them the gift of being children?" (St. Augustine 11:10). And this name that escapes our hearts is not an empty image; God is truly our Father and we are truly His children. "For you have not received again a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear," says St. Paul, comparing the state of Christians to that of the Jews, "but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, in whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" Romans 815; Galatians 4:5 and 6. We are children of God by adoption, and it is the Holy Spirit himself who inspires in us this filial cry by which we turn to God as our Father. And yet, what audacity, as the Church says: “Warned by the commandments of salvation and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say: Our Father…” Without this divine institution, without this intimate prompting of the Holy Spirit, we would have done as the Israelites did, who, although children of God and knowing that they were (see Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalm 102:13; Isaiah 63:16 and numerous passages of the Talmud), almost never dared to address him by this title, our Father. Even in the most intimate relationships, it was on one side God, the Lord, and on the other his servants; “a spirit of servitude in fear.” – “Our Father” and not “my Father,” because “the prayer of the Church is common, not individual,” Maldonat. In reciting the Lord’s Prayer, we do not speak in our own private name; we speak as members of the great Christian family, therefore in communion of spirit and heart with all our spiritual brothers and sisters. To the only “natural son” of God it belonged to say “My Father,” cf. Matthew 26:42. – “ Who are in heaven »Although present everywhere, it is in the heavens that God makes the most brilliant rays of his immensity shine; our prayer naturally goes to find him in this blessed abode.
«O our Father, who art in heaven,
not circumscribed, but because there your love
pours out more abundantly on those whom you created, the first
Dante, Purgatory 11
The sacred writers of the Old Testament, and later the Rabbis, readily added this epithet, borrowed from the place of God's principal residence, to the name of God. Here, its purpose is to show us the distance that exists between our earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father, between our Heavenly Father and us. May your Name be hallowed. Then comes the prayer itself, which, as we have said, consists of three wishes relating to divine glory and four personal supplications. The phrase "Hallowed be…" forms the first petition of the first part. "Worthy prayer," exclaims Saint John Chrysostom, "is that which calls God Father. It can ask for nothing other than the glory of the Father." The Lord, speaking through the prophet Malachi, had addressed this indignant apostrophe to the ungrateful Jews: "If I am a Father, where is the honor shown me?" (Malachi 1:6). The Christian, after saying: Our Father, immediately adds, in accordance with the divine desire: Hallowed be thy name. Applied to that which is not holy, it means to purify, to make holy; applied to that which is already holy, this same verb means to recognize as such, that is to say, to glorify. Since God's name is holy from all eternity and infinitely holy (cf. Psalm 110:9; Luke 1:49), what can we wish for it except that it be always and everywhere treated according to its august nature? The name of God is not merely the appellation as our lips pronounce it; it is also, and primarily, the idea we attach to it—in other words, the divine essence itself as it has been revealed to us. To wish for the glorification of God's holy name is, therefore, to wish for the glorification of God himself.
Mt6.10 – that your kingdom come, that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.This is the second petition of the first part. «Your kingdom» refers to nothing other than the «kingdom of heaven» announced by the Forerunner (3:2) and by Jesus Christ (4:17): the Messianic kingdom is indeed the kingdom of God par excellence. The Jews called for its coming by reciting their famous Kaddish. «Thy kingdom come,» they said, «redemption comes soon.» We say, like them, «May it come,» though not in the same sense, since it was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. “Come,” that is to say, may it develop, be perfected, and embrace the whole earth after having triumphed over all the obstacles that stand in the way of its perfect establishment. As long as there remains a single person to be converted to ChristianityAs long as there are poor stray sheep outside the sheepfold, this wish will have its reason for being. "The meaning, therefore, is not that God reigns in our hearts, or that we reign with the blessed, but that God reigns absolutely, and without adversary," Maldonat. There is a very close link between this request and the previous one; the name of God will be all the more glorified the more extensive his kingdom is. – Now, here is the third request: Thy will be done… Dante expresses it in the following terms, with the elegant and profound simplicity that never leaves him:
«"As your angels sacrifice their will to you in singing Hosanna, so let men sacrifice theirs. Lord of all, do as you will in your world." Purg. 11, 10.
«As,» so constantly, so perfectly, so joyfully. May the will of men therefore conform and submit in all respects to that of God. If this were so, how quickly the kingdom of our Heavenly Father would encompass the whole inhabited earth. The rabbinic tractate Sanhedrin presents us with the angels saying to God in heaven: «Master of the whole world, the world belongs to you; accomplish what you will in this world which is yours.» This is also what the Christian desires in the Lord’s Prayer. – We see, from this brief explanation, that the first part of the «Our Father,» although it contains three parallel phrases, ultimately expresses only one desire: to see the Messianic kingdom realized in all its perfection. Although each petition is addressed jointly to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, the first can nevertheless be attributed to the Father, the second to the Son, and the third to the Holy Spirit, for it is the name of the Father that has just been directly invoked, it is through the Son that the divine kingdom was established on earth, and it is with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can always succeed in doing God’s will.
Mt6.11 – Give us this day our daily bread.Then come the supplications themselves. Now that we have paid our debt to the glory of God, Jesus allows us, in the second part of his prayer, to elaborate on our own needs. «On earth as it is in heaven»: these words of the supplicant serve as a transition between the two halves of the Lord’s Prayer. The Christian, who had ascended to the abode of the heavenly Father, is brought back down to earth by the awareness of his many needs; at least he can express them with complete simplicity and freedom before the author of every perfect gift. He begins, like a humble beggar, by asking God for the bread to sustain his material life: Our daily bread…«Here,» says Bossuet, «is the true discourse of a child who confidently asks his father for all his needs, down to the smallest,» Meditation on the Gospel, 25th day. By this word «bread,» we must understand, according to Eastern usage, everything necessary for bodily life, all our material needs, as James 2:16 expresses. We ask for very little, and this little we ask for with the greatest moderation, leaving the details in the hands of Providence, ever loving to its children. Moreover, “If we have enough to eat and enough to wear, let us be content with that,” 1 Timothy 6:8. DailyCan we say with St. Augustine, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome that the bread we implore from kindness divine is a spiritual and mystical bread, for example the holy EucharistGrace, the life of the Word in our souls? It is certainly possible, but on the condition of not exaggerating anything and not relegating to the background the natural and obvious meaning that must remain paramount in the interpretation of Jesus' words. In the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, the focus is directly on the satisfaction of our temporal needs; and, although "food that perishes" immediately suggests to the Christian soul the thought of "food that lasts forever," John 627, however, according to the common opinion of exegetes, the heavenly bread of the Eucharist or of grace can only be mentioned here in an incidental and secondary way. Give us today ; according to St. Luke, day by day. It's the same idea. – Poverty and concern for worldly things are usually great obstacles to acquiring holiness and establishing the kingdom of God in hearts (cf. Matthew 13:22): it is therefore quite legitimate to implore the Lord to remove these obstacles. But in what sense will the rich man say: Give us this day our daily bread? “I dare say,” replies Saint Augustinethat the rich man needs this daily bread. Why does he possess everything in abundance? Why, if not because God has given it to him? What will you have if God withdraws his hand? Are there not many who went to sleep rich and woke up poor?
Mt6.12 – And forgive us our debts as we ourselves forgive those who owe us. – Fifth request. – Forgive us our debts…Our moral misery is no less than our material misery, and, fully aware that it renders us incapable, unworthy of being citizens of the Messianic kingdom, we earnestly beseech our Father to put an end to it as soon as possible. «Remit,» let go, as opposed to withhold; it is a free pardon that we ask for, for it concerns a debt that we could, alas, never repay. Our debts. Our sins are in God's hands like heavy debts that His justice and holiness prevent Him from forgetting, until His mercy, moved by our repentance, deigns to tear them up. As we hand them over. «As» does not express a degree, nor a similarity per se, but a pattern; «for we ourselves also forgive,» Luke 11:4. Those who owe us This should be taken in a broad sense as "debts"; all those who have wronged us, as the popular French translation aptly puts it. – Jesus will return to this condition of forgiveness in a moment, verses 14 and 15.
Mt6.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.-This verse contains the last two petitions and the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer. – Sixth petition: And don't let.... The memory of our past sins, so vividly stirred in our minds, in turn produces a feeling of our terrifying weakness. We have sinned, we can sin again, for evil is ever-present, harassing us inwardly and outwardly in a thousand different forms, using everything to tempt and destroy us. How can we resist it, except by turning to our Father? We therefore pray that He will not lead us into temptation. What does this mean? Does it mean that He Himself is the author of the temptations that assail us? Certainly not, «He… tempts no one,» James 1:13; to become a tempter requires an intrinsic malice incompatible with His supreme perfection. His Providence may well allow us to be tempted, but then He will take care to provide us with sufficient help to ensure our victory. See 1 Corinthians 10:13. Does this mean that we desire absolute separation from all temptation? Not at all; such a desire would be unattainable in this life. Therefore, we should translate it as we do in French: «Do not let us succumb to temptation.» – Seventh petition: But deliver us from evilRegarding the word "evil," we find the usual uncertainty and discussion (see verse 37 and the explanation). Is it masculine, representing the devil, the evil being par excellence ("the cunning one," says an old French translation)? Or is it neuter, designating evil as a terrible power that threatens us from all sides? The Greek Fathers and some commentators following them favor the first interpretation, and this is how they manage to conflate the sixth and seventh petitions into one. After speaking of temptation, Jesus would point to its principal instigator. But no, this phrase is not simply a variant of the previous one: it has a much broader scope. This is what the Church teaches us in the beautiful prayer "Deliver Us," which it has the priest recite immediately after the "Our Father." Taking up the Savior's last words and establishing their meaning through authentic development, "Deliver us from all evil, Lord, and give peace "In our time; by your mercy, deliver us from sin." Deliver us from evil, whatever its form, because, in its many guises, it always works against your kingdom; from past evil, or from our sins of the past that have left fatal traces within us, even though forgiven; from enemies of every kind who press upon us in the present; from your future punishments that we have already suffered all too much; from the countless sorrows that overwhelm us. As we can see, it is through a universal petition, though negative in its form, through an ardent and general desire for messianic redemption, that the prayer taught to us by Jesus concludes.
Mt6.14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, your Father will not forgive your trespasses. – Following the Lord's Prayer, which has been aptly defined as "the universal prayer not of the Jew, not of the Christian, not of the Catholic, but of humankind" (Bougaud, Jesus Christ, Part 2, Chapter 2), we find two verses closely related to it, as they comment on its fifth petition. After imploring God to forgive us our trespasses, we added, to persuade Him to grant us this great favor, "as we ourselves forgive those who owe us"; it is this condition that Jesus Christ returns to in order to explain its inclusion in his prayer formula. On two consecutive occasions, first in an affirmative form in verse 14, then in negative terms in verse 15, he establishes as an indisputable principle, that forgiveness The forgiveness generously granted by us to those among our brothers who may have offended us is the essential condition for the remission of our own sins; a most equitable condition indeed, for how could we deserve God's forgiveness of our grave and numerous faults if we ourselves refused to forget the relatively minor offenses of our neighbor against us? See further, 18:25 ff., the beautiful parable in which Jesus teaches this indispensable condition at greater length; cf. also Mark 11:25; Ecclesiastes 28:3, 4, 5. Will forgive…; naturally, provided that the other conditions are met. He will not forgive you…, even "all things considered", an essential thing is lacking. – This reasoning of the Savior is so conclusive, that in the time of St John Chrysostom, Christians animated by feelings of hatred and revenge against their neighbor preferred, when reciting the "Our Father", to omit the fifth petition rather than pronounce their own condemnation.
Fasting, vv. 16-18.
Mt6.16 When you fast, do not look somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. – Jesus returns to the great principle he stated at the beginning of this chapter, and he now applies it to fasting, just as he applied it to almsgiving and prayer. Although the example changes, the formulas do not vary, nor does the method: the attention is all the more struck by this. When you fast. Although the Mosaic faith prescribed only one fast per year (cf. Lev. 16:29), and tradition granted Jews almost complete freedom regarding bodily mortifications, nevertheless, in the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ, pious Israelites, or those who pretended to be such, were accustomed to fasting frequently. Thus, most Pharisees fasted two and even four times a week. This was excellent in itself, but unfortunately marred by ostentation and vainglory. Sad, with an affected sadness; gloomy and somber like desolate penitents. They exhaust their faces…This verb is a relic of ancient Itala; it has driven out, no doubt because of its originality, the «abattent» that St. Jerome had substituted for it. Moreover, it translates the Greek very well, which primarily means to destroy, annihilate (cf. v. 19), and then to disfigure in some way. Imagine these hypocritical Pharisees, who, after several days of severe fasting, appeared in public pale, or even completely black, says the Talmud, emaciated, disheveled, with long, unkempt beards, and unclean faces, for even the most basic hygiene was no less forbidden than food during the days of penance, and you will understand that their fasting could truly be read on their faces. To show men…Jesus plays ironically on words: «they exhaust them… to make them visible.» St. John Chrysostom points out other hypocrites among his contemporaries who went even further than the Pharisees, for they worked to acquire the reputation of great fasters while eating good meals carefully concealed, whereas Jesus’ opponents at least took the trouble to fast even though they derived no merit from it.
Mt6.17 For you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not appear to men that you are fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. – The true way to practice fasting. – When you fast. A Christian can and even should fast; but when he practices this act of mortification, he takes as much care to hide it from the eyes of men as others take to display it. Perfume your head These kinds of anointings have always been frequently used in the East, especially when attending sumptuous meals (cf. Luke 7:46). Wash your face, As a sign of joy, as one would do after a long period of mourning. Beneath this double metaphor, reminiscent of those in verses 3 and 6, it is easy to discern the Savior's thought. Even when you fast, he means, outwardly appear as if you were going about your usual life, or even preparing to enjoy a good meal. Holy dissimulation, the opposite of shameful hypocrisy, and as rewarded as that vice had been punished. Your Father will reward you.
2. Obligations of Christians concerning wealth and property, vv. 19-34.
From the duties imposed by piety, Jesus Christ now moves on to those stemming from property. In this charter of the new kingdom, he could not avoid addressing such a serious matter. The Messianic King desires that the hearts of his subjects be his alone; but two things can deprive him of them, either totally or partially. love wealth and an exaggerated concern for worldly necessities. Hence, two rules of conduct that he outlines on this point, to prohibit what would be in his empire a crime of moral idolatry and consequently of high treason.
First rule: For those who are part of the Messianic kingdom, true wealth is entirely spiritual and consists of heavenly treasures, vv. 19-24.
Mt6.19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moths destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. – Treasures Treasures or material goods of any kind, as the context indicates; everything that is precious in the eyes of men, everything that arouses the covetousness of thieves. Rust and worms…The reason why one must avoid hoarding on earth: earthly riches are essentially precarious and perishable (cf. 1 Tim. 6:9, 16-19). How many enemies and rivals does one encounter when possessing them! Rust gradually eats away at the most exquisitely worked metals; worms devour fabrics without regard for their value, even preferentially attacking fine embroidered garments that are worn less frequently; thieves seize all treasures indiscriminately. One must be truly foolish to seek with such fervor objects that have so little substance. – «Rust» generally means «erosion, corrosion» and represents the voracious teeth of time or decay.
Mt6.20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. – Gather yourselfSince the earth so poorly safeguards the treasures entrusted to it, couldn't a more reliable safe be found? Yes, in the sky, where our wealth is not in any danger, where there is no rust…etc. Indeed, since the treasures we can accumulate are of a spiritual, immaterial nature, they are therefore indestructible (cf. Luke 12:33). «How foolish it is to leave treasures here, in the place you are leaving, and not send them in advance to the place you are going to. Hoard them where you have a homeland.» (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in hl). Let us heap up in heaven the merits of our virtues and the fruits of our good works.
Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Another powerful reason why we must detach ourselves from material possessions is that our treasure, whatever it may be, soon becomes the ideal, even the idol, of our heart, which rests upon it, thinks of it night and day, and is transformed by it. If this treasure is earthly, our heart dwells perpetually on earth and becomes entirely earthly; if the possessions we love are heavenly, our heart already resides in heaven and becomes entirely heavenly, and only then are we truly citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
Mt6.22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be in the light.,23But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!. These two verses have often been accused of disrupting the flow of Jesus' thoughts; but, upon closer examination, it is easy to recognize that they harmonize perfectly with the antecedents and consequents. Only superficial readers might fail to understand their presence here. The Savior speaks of riches, which he portrays as one of the principal obstacles to the establishment of his kingdom in souls. "Beware," he said, "of clinging to the goods of this world, for their love would quickly corrupt your heart." He now adds that if our hearts were depraved, all our works would thereby become evil; whereas a spiritual heart, heavenly in its affections, will render our actions excellent before God, the outward appearance drawing its form and morality from the inward. This phenomenon of the moral life is described in figurative language whose colors are borrowed from physical life. Your eye is the lamp of your body. At the forefront of his argument, Jesus places, as an indisputable basis, this proverbial saying. Is not our eye like a lamp which, lit by the rays of the sun, illuminates and guides our body? – That being said, either our eye is simple, if your eye is pure, That is to say, good and healthy, well-formed, and then our body is bright ; the various members of which it is composed harmoniously fulfill their functions, without fear of clashing or breaking against obstacles hidden in the shadows: either our eye is bad, corrupted in some way, if your eye is evil, and in this case our entire body is darkness, given that he has lost his only source of light, the organ of sight. – After these evident premises, the divine Master concludes by saying: If, therefore, light…; if the eyes, these windows of the body, are dark as dark chambers, How great will the darkness be?, All the more so the other organs, which do not possess light of their own and yet receive all their light from elsewhere. – The application now becomes self-evident. Your eye, the light of your soul; if this heart is simple and pure, and it will be if it is not divided between God and the world, if it is not defiled by contact with earthly goods, your entire moral life will be in splendor; if, on the contrary, this heart allows itself to be corrupted by profane attachments, your moral works will themselves be completely spoiled. Jesus Christ reasons according to Eastern psychology, which attributed a preponderant role to the heart in the practical conduct of man. For the Greeks, it was the intellect that was the illuminating principle: Aristotle, Galen, the Jew Philo.
Mt6.24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth. – Another reason for us to commit ourselves not to place our treasures on earth. The preceding arguments were based on the instability of material wealth (v. 19), on the frightening way in which it absorbs all our affections (v. 21), on the destruction of the merit of our actions by its pernicious influence (vv. 22 and 23): this last point rests on the yoke of slavery it imposes upon us. No one can serve… A well-known truth in domestic life, confirmed by similar axioms among most peoples. It is said elsewhere that one should not place two saddles on the same horse; or: A loyal subject cannot serve two sovereigns. A comedy by Terence depicts a servant greatly perplexed precisely because he finds himself in this situation: «I am not sure what I should do. Should I help Pamphilus, or assist an old man? If I abandon the latter, I fear for his life. But if I attend to him, I dread the threats of the former,» Andr. 1, 1, 26. The choice will nevertheless be made, for indifference in such a case is quite impossible; the scales will eventually tip one way or the other. Or he will hate one of them…There are only two possibilities: either the servant in question will love his master Paul at the expense of his other master Peter, or he will become attached to Peter and neglect Paul. This will make for a very bad marriage where harmony will soon become impossible. – The same applies to the spiritual realm: You cannot serve…The soul cannot remain wavering between God and riches, intending to fulfill its duties to God while simultaneously enjoying earthly goods. Between the Lord and Mammon, there is the most absolute incompatibility. Choose. Money. In the Latin text, Mammon, a Chaldean name, (Mamôna, (See the Syriac Momoûno), first Hellenized, then Latinized; its etymology is uncertain. It designated either riches or the god who possessed them, like the Plutus of the Greeks and Romans. Note the use of the verb, "to serve." St. Jerome writes on this subject: "He did not say: he who has riches, but he who puts himself at the service of riches. For he who is a slave to riches guards riches like a slave. He who shakes off the yoke of riches distributes them like the Lord.".
Second rule: Christians must avoid with the greatest care any overly human concern regarding their temporal needs, vv. 25-34.
Mt6.25 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 clothes? – After uprooting avarice, Jesus Christ prevents excessive fear poverty. – This whole passage is admirable; it is certainly one of the most beautiful and consoling in the Gospel. The preacher finds in it material for developments as rich as they are useful; but the word of Jesus is so clear and accessible here that the exegete needs only a few lines to explain it. – “ That's why »Because it is impossible to serve both God and Mammon. Don't worryThe Greek is more forceful, and the wording of St. Luke is even more so: “So that you may be prepared without anxiety, diligent without worry, without worry and without stress,” Cornelius a Lap. Jesus Christ does not exclude moderate foresight, but only agitation of the mind, a troubled anxiety that distrusts Providence. One must undoubtedly work to provide for one's needs, “Help yourself.” But, as St. John Chrysostom says, one must know how to reject any excessive worry that would be an affront to kindness of God. “One must know how to work hard without worry,” St. Augustine, in hl Indeed, “heaven will help you.” For your life : represents the principle of life in man, and not the soul itself. Of what you will eat and what you will drink.» Since the preservation of our life depends on eating and drinking, and life is identified with the vital principle, the Hebrews invented the strange expression «to eat for one’s soul,» cf. Psalm 77:18. What you will be wearing. After food, clothing: the two great necessities of humankind and, consequently, its two principal sources of anxiety. "Body" is in the dative case for the same reason as "anima" (soul). – As was his custom, Jesus completes his instruction by adding the reasons that establish it. First reason: Isn't life… The conclusion is implied, but it can easily be supplied: If life is more precious than food, if the body has more value than clothing, will not the author of our life, the creator of our body, know how to give us everything necessary to sustain them?
Mt6.26 Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? – A second reason for boundless trust in God's Providence: the loving care it takes for beings devoid of reason. Look A simple glance at nature can console and reassure the unfortunate. The birds of the sky : the Bible likes to add to their name this genitive which determines the domain of their gracious existence cf. Genesis 126; 2, 19; Psalm 8, 9, 103, 12, etc. – They neither sow nor reapThese are the three great and arduous operations by which man secures the food necessary for life. Birds are hardly concerned about them, living happily from day to day. – And yet, Your heavenly Father feeds them. “And” has the meaning of “and yet”; “your” is emphatic, as is “you” a little further down. Your father, not theirs. If he feeds insignificant strangers so well, how can he not treat the sons of his own family? See in several places in the Bible, particularly Job 38:41; Psalm 146:9, touching examples of kindness divine regard for birds. A similar thought is found in the Talmud: "Have you ever seen animals or birds engaged in fulfilling a duty? They do so without any anxiety," Kiddushin. Aren't you much more… A surprising pleonasm, which reinforces the idea. «You put all things under his feet… the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,» says the Psalmist, Psalm 8:8 and 9.
Mt6.27 Which of you, through constant worrying, could add a single cubit to the length of your life? – Third reason to avoid any concern: it would be absolutely pointless. through sheer worry ; reflecting and reflecting again, like men of genius searching for some important discovery. The Greek implies arduous, tiring reflections. At his size. From the Greek text, it can refer to both the length of life and the length of the human body, that is, age or height. Several commentators have adopted the second meaning, following the Vulgate, believing that the Savior intended to represent the impossibility for humans to add anything to their height. But they failed to observe that there would be something contradictory in the expression used by Jesus; a cubit added to any height would indeed be a considerable measure, whereas Our Lord clearly meant a small dimension. It is therefore preferable to take it in the more common sense of "age," cf. John 4:23. This yields a very natural and logical meaning: Which of you, even after much reflection, can add a cubit to your life? A metaphor to mean "by a minute." In Psalm 38:6, the length of life is compared to the palm branch; the Greek poet Mimnermus also speaks of a cubit of time. One cubit ; The cubit was one of the principal units of length used by the Hebrews. It was equivalent to the forearm of an average-sized person, from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow; hence its name. The conclusion of the argument is omitted, as in verse 25.
Mt6.28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin. 29 And yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. 30 If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? – Fourth reason for trusting God: the care he takes of inanimate beings. This reason differs little from the second; only, while verse 26 spoke of animals and food, here it refers to plants and clothing. Consider, Learn, study carefully, to clearly see the truth of my assertions. Field lilies. The lilies of Palestine are famous: they are found there by the thousands, covering vast stretches of land, and sometimes, thanks to their brilliant and varied colors, transforming an entire region into a magnificent garden. Among the most beautiful is the one Linnaeus calls "Fritillaria corona imperialis," the one described by Dioscorides (3.116), three feet tall, bearing a splendid crown of red or yellow flowers at the top of a slender stem, surmounted by a plume of leaves; or the "Lily of Huleh" of Dr. Thomson, whose three broad, velvety petals meet at the tip and which is the favorite food of the gazelles of Mount Tabor (cf. Song of Songs 2:1.2:16). Moreover, the Schouschân Oriental, whose name, imported by the Moors, is found as far as Spain, this other land of lilies ("Azucena"), formerly encompassed a considerable category of plants, for example amaryllis and tulips, so that it is impossible to determine exactly which flower Jesus Christ specifically intended to designate. They neither work nor spin. They grow of their own accord in uncultivated fields; they do not have to laboriously weave their delicate robes, nor artfully adjust their various parts: Providence takes it upon itself to clothe them, and with what love it does so! However, I tell you that Solomon…; no, not even Solomon, that ideal of wealth for the Jews, cf. 2 Chron. 9:15; indeed, not even Solomon in all its glorythat is to say, covered in his most splendid clothes on the most solemn occasions. Cf. Esther 15, 2. – He was not seen as one of them.. «What silk fabric,» asks St. Jerome, “what royal purple, what perfectly embroidered cloth could compare to flowers? What is so fresh as the rose? What is so white as the lily?” Solomon’s ornaments came from the warm greenhouse of art, while lilies grow in the Lord’s paradise. If God..That is the conclusion of the argument. The grass of the fields, a disdainful name deliberately applied to the lily to show its low value before God. Despite its splendor, this plant is, after all, only a herb that grows among other herbs, sharing their fate. It is known that the Hebrews divided the plant kingdom into only two families: trees and herbaceous plants. Who exists today. What could be less lasting than a lily flower? It is truly ephemeral. In the East especially, a few hours of scorching heat are enough to completely dry out those magnificent fields we mentioned earlier: what was a delightful carpet of greenery in the morning is nothing but a dreadful litter by evening. And who will be thrown into the oven tomorrow. Things are literally happening this way in Palestine and in SyriaIn the absence of wood, people in the East use dried herbs and flower stems to heat their small portable ovens, a type of earthenware pot, wider at the base than at the top, and excellent for cooking food. How much more yourselves ; You, created in the image of God, are heirs of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus concluded,« a fortiori »"As in the three preceding arguments." Men of little faithThe lack of trust in Providence Indeed, divine power stems from a lack of faith. The Rabbis frequently addressed a similar reproach to their disciples, using the same terms: "He who has bread in his kneading bowl and says: what shall I eat tomorrow...is endowed with little faith," Sota. f. 48, 2, etc.
Mt6.31 – So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we cover ourselves with? – After this argument, in which he gave so much proof of God's truly maternal Providence towards us, Jesus Christ returns to his first recommendation: So don't worry. «Therefore», an emphatic deduction meaning: Is it not obvious that it must be so?
Mt6.32 For it is the pagans who seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. –The demonstration begins anew; to the reasons given above for condemning any anxious agitation of the mind regarding the necessities of life, the Savior adds others no less powerful, in order to forever eradicate this flaw from the hearts of his disciples. It is the pagans who are concerned…Such concern is entirely pagan and has nothing Christian about it; how could the disciples of Christ dare to indulge in it? This is the third time that Jesus cites the example of the Gentiles to his listeners as something to be absolutely avoided (cf. v. 47; 6, 7). What connection, indeed, can there be between the spirit of paganism and that of the Christianity Is there not a complete opposition between them? – Classical literature abounds with passages that could be used to support the accusation leveled here by Jesus against the pagans. “Starting with one, know them all.”
«"But all you have to do is ask Jupiter about the things he gives and takes away.".
"Whether he gives life or riches, I will accept it all with an equanimous heart."»
[rabo; Hor. Ep. 1, 18, 111-112.
Not believing in a personal, good, and living God, but in a blind fate, or else in a heartless divinity indifferent to the affairs of mortals, their sole concern was to live well in the present. Your father knows..An additional reason stems from God's perfect knowledge of our every need. He is a Heavenly Father, that is to say, an all-powerful Father. Now, what father, knowing the needs of his children, would not come to their aid whenever he can in every way?
Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. – Jesus showed us the things we should not pursue with excessive anxiety; moving from the negative to the positive, he now teaches us what goods we should especially strive to acquire. So searchDo not chase after earthly possessions, as the pagans do, but after heavenly possessions, as is fitting for my disciples. First of all is not synonymous with "only," since the Savior, as we have said above, does not intend to absolutely proscribe the acquisition of worldly goods, nor to condemn all concern for material needs. Jesus allows us to attend to temporal matters, provided we subordinate them to the spiritual, just as we subordinate the secondary to the primary. "Firstly" therefore means "primarily, preferentially to anything else." The Kingdom of God, This kingdom, so often spoken of, the heavenly kingdom founded by Christ in the midst of a fallen world that he is destined to save, but completely separate from the world and worldly interests: this must be the object of our concern. – We must seek further his justice (of God), this perfect justice or holiness which Jesus describes from the beginning of his discourse. And all these things will be given to you.…If we faithfully follow this recommendation of Jesus, then, amazingly, along with the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God, we will also find, and quite amply, the satisfaction of our earthly needs. We have neglected the secondary in order to go straight to the essential; God will compensate us by allowing us to encounter the secondary at the same time as the principal. «All these things» refers, as in verse 32, to food, drink, clothing, etc. – Compare Psalm 33:11: «Those who seek the Lord shall lack no good thing»; 36:25, etc.
Mt6.34 So don't worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – So don't worry… Jesus repeats these words for the third time (cf. vv. 25 and 31) in order to make their meaning penetrate more deeply into the souls of his disciples. From the next day ; concerning the future, of which every tomorrow is a part. – Because the next day… «He speaks of the day, an inanimate thing, figuratively, as if he could be concerned about it,» St. John Chrysostom. Each day brings man his share of sorrows and worries; to anticipate them is to double them: would such conduct be reasonable? Each day has enough trouble of its own. His malice, that is to say, his many troubles. It is true that the Christian finds sufficient support to bear them patiently, but this support is granted only as needed; one is not provided with it from the day before. Only tomorrow will one have the grace of state to suffer tomorrow's ills. What a difference between this messianic philosophy and pagan indifference! "Enjoy the present, and think as little as possible about what will come after," Horat. "The soul that is happy now detests thinking about what will happen next," ibid. The following thought of Seneca would be closer to that of the divine Master: "Even if misfortune is to come in the future, how will anticipating it alleviate our suffering? You will suffer soon enough when it comes. In the meantime, entertain yourself with pleasant things," Letter 13.
