In His Gospel today, our Lord Jesus Christ reveals simple and clear truths that many of us, so to speak, stumble over every day and do not see. The truths, meanwhile, are so simple and clear that even a person with a single candle - a God-given pure mind - can see them and recognize them.

Thus says the Lord: The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, if thy eye be pure, thy whole body shall be light; but if thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be dark. The eyes are the windows of the body, through which the body learns about the light, receives the light, and recognizes everything in the light. If these windows are boarded up, what a terrible prison the body becomes! The eyes are the guide of the body: as long as this guide, keeping a watchful eye, goes forward, the body moves correctly and does not wander without a path; The legs go as they should, the arms work as they should, and every part of the body performs its functions as it should. But if the guide falls into darkness, into what darkness do those who are led fall! If the eyes are extinguished and cease to shine on the body, what an insane accumulation of darkness the body represents! Then all paths are closed for the body: the legs either do not go at all, or go where they do not need to; hands either do nothing at all, or do not do the right thing; And every part of the body does not perform its functions as it should. The foot tramples, and with this tries to replace darkened vision; the hand feels, and with this tries to replace the darkened vision; The ear listens more attentively, and thus tries to replace vision. But all in vain, the followers cannot replace their guidebook. Confusion and confusion ensue. Without eyes, the human body truly becomes a real prison.

The inner meaning of these words is revealed by itself after the next sentence, which reads: "If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness? It is not said, "The light is upon thee, or the light is before thee, but in thee." In this way, the Lord turns the entire image of the eye and body to the inner world of man, to the mind and to the soul. For the eye is the image of the mind, and the body is the image of the soul. The Holy Scriptures often speak of the clairvoyance of the mind, as well as of its blindness. The Apostle Paul desires the Ephesians that God would enlighten the eyes of their hearts (1:18). And David the Psalmist asks God: "Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Thy law" (Psalm 118:18), meaning here the mental eyes and the inner sight, by which alone the laws of God can be seen. The mind is the eye of the whole soul. The mind is the window of the soul to God. As long as the mind is bright, pure, and open to God, the light of heaven is poured out upon the whole soul, and our thoughts ascend directly to God. All the feelings of our heart merge into love for God and for His law, all intentions, all aspirations, all the deeds of our soul are bright, healthy and directed to the service of God. Like a lighted field, on which the flock grazes and the shepherds rejoice, and on which, fearing the light, wolves dare not penetrate! Only when the sun goes down and darkness descends, the wolves decide to come to the field and look for prey. And our soul, illumined by a pure and sound mind, is free from the wild beasts of vices and passions, which pounce upon it only when it is covered by the darkness of a sick mind.

Once Abba Benjamin fell mortally ill. His grieving disciples and admirers began to pray at his bed for recovery. Hearing what they were praying to God for, the elder said to them: "Pray, that my inner man may not get sick, and I have not seen any gain from this body, as long as it was healthy, and now, when it is sick, I do not feel any loss" (Alphabetical Patericon). If the mind is pure, everything is pure in the human soul, and then the whole person is pure. But to a pure man all things are pure (Titus 1:15). There is no doubt that in every person, even with the greatest purity of mind, there is also impurity; but a person with a pure mind does not want to see impurity. He directs his mind, and the mind controls the whole soul only to that which is pure, both within man and in the outer world. And, striving with his mind only to that which is pure, man is more and more enriched with purity. The more our mind lingers on our Lord Jesus Christ as perfect Purity and Light, the more it becomes, and through Him both the heart and the soul, become purer, brighter, more radiant and more clairvoyant.

If the mind turns away from God, rejects God and blasphemes Him, and the lamp of the soul is extinguished; the window in the upper room is walled up; The Soul Guide slipped and fell into the pit. "As clouds do not gather without a breath of wind, so passion is not born without thoughts," says Mark the Ascetic (Philokalia). "Thoughts are like winds that blow from a shaken mind and stir up the irritable and lustful nature of man." What darkness our soul then becomes! She is confused and, like a blind woman, wanders by touch one way, then another. An instantaneous thought will flare up at the soul's guide like an electric spark, but it will immediately be extinguished and give way to the guidance of a momentary feeling, which is replaced by another feeling, or another thought, or by this or that striving, until at last a person is plunged into the darkness of despair. And the exhausted and darkened soul is completely given over to the guidance of the body, which without the light of the soul is darkness and blindness. And the body becomes the leader. And the blind man begins to lead the blind until both inevitably fall into the pit.

And the words of Christ quoted also refer to parents and teachers, leaders of the people and priests of the Church of God. Parents are eyes for their children, teachers for their students, leaders for their people. If those who go ahead do not see where they are going, how much more so do those who follow them. If parents are wandering without a path, then how can children find the right path? If teachers lie, how can students know the truth? If the leaders of the people are atheists, then how can the people be pious? If the priests of God are unclean, then how can believers be clean? Then the words of the prophets will be fulfilled in all of them, which have been fulfilled many times in the people of Israel: "With your ears you will hear, and you will not understand, and with your eyes you will see, and you will not see" (Matt. 13:14; cf. John 9:39). That is: looking with bodily eyes at spiritual things and events, you will not see them; for the bodily eye sees the bodily, and the spiritual eye sees the spiritual. But because their spiritual sight has been darkened, everything spiritual in heaven and on earth remains invisible and unknown to them, for they see only with their bodily eyes. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness; and cannot understand, because these things must be judged spiritually (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Listen to what else the Apostle Paul says: "But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). Blessed is he among us who can say of himself that he has the mind of Christ! Blessed is he who has rejected his mortal, wavering, earthly mind and replaced it with the strong mind of Christ! He will be all filled with the ineffable light, and he will see the whole world immersed in one great light, as Moses was immersed in the bush in the flames. He will easily pass through the gorge of this life, for his path will be illuminated by the best lamp, the keenest eye, the purest mind. For the Lord says: I am the light of the world; whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness" (John 8:12). Christ is our light, Christ is the eye of our life. Whoever wants to know life and see the way of true life must look with this eye. Every other eye is more or less corrupted, darkened, and clogged, and, like glasses, enlarges or diminishes, brings objects nearer or farther away. Only through the eye of Christ can everything be seen as it is, both in heaven and on earth, in man and in things. That is why it will be most difficult to answer before God to those who are given to look at everything through the eye of Christ, but they do not look.

No one can serve two masters, – says the Lord further, – for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will be zealous for the one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Can two wheels of a cart go forward and two wheels go backward? Can a person look east with one eye and west with the other? "As one eye cannot look at heaven and the other at earth, so the mind cannot unite the care of the Divine and the worldly" (Abba Isaiah). Can a man walk with one foot to the right and the other to the left? It cannot. In the same way, he cannot go to meet God while remaining in the embrace of the world. A person cannot serve God and sin, but either he will hate God and love sin, or vice versa: love God and hate sin. In order to emphasize this truth even more, the Lord repeats it, but only in other words: either he will be zealous for the one, and neglect the other. If a person is zealous for God, then he cannot be zealous for the enemy of God. And love for this world is enmity against God. God demands all our hearts, and therefore offers us all His help and all His gifts. For the eyes of the Lord survey the whole earth, to support those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). Faithful, that is, pure and freed from faith in the world, hope for peace, love for the world, and filled with faith, hope, and love exclusively for the Living and Immortal God. Whoever is zealous for the Lord should not truly be concerned about all the mortal, deceptive and perishable sweetness and charms of this world. On the other hand, he who has given himself wholly into the embrace of the deceptive hopes and promises of this world will utterly despise God and not care for Him. But do not be deceived: God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). For whoever denies God, God will also deny it, and God will remain God, and this man will be blotted out of the Book of Life in both worlds. Therefore, be constant in your devotion to God, and do not divide your heart, but when you put your hand to the plough in the field of the Lord, do not look back. And if you once began to flee from the sodomic corruption of this world, do not turn around so as not to be petrified, like Lot's wife, then you will not be able to move forward or backward. And if you once managed to escape from the black Pharaoh of Egypt, do not desire to return to him as a slave again, even if such obstacles as seas, deserts, hunger, thirst and countless enemies stand in your way to salvation. The Lord always walks before those who are saved from the fire of the flames of sin, and He Himself paves the way for them through the seas, and through sandy deserts, and through the armies of the enemy.

You cannot serve God and mammon. Again, the Lord wants to emphasize the first idea: No one can serve two masters. That is, two gentlemen who think oppositely wish the opposite. Righteous Abraham also served three masters (Gen. 18:2), but these three masters were one in essence and in spirit. And we can serve thirty angels of God or three hundred saints of God, but these are not thirty or three hundred masters, or even two, but one: God's army of light, truth, and righteousness under the leadership of one and only Lord, God. Thus, so that we do not think that we cannot serve two good and holy people, the Lord explains His first thought, showing that He has in mind two opposite masters, who have nothing in common with each other, like noon and midnight. God and mammon are two opposite masters, to whom we can assign ourselves to serve: God for salvation and life, and mammon for perdition and death. Mammon means wealth. This word is Phoenician. It is said that this name was also borne by the idol, which the pagan Phoenicians worshipped as the deity of wealth. Why did the Lord use a foreign word to denote something that is contrary to God? To express His deep contempt for the deification of wealth, for the service and slavery of wealth. For the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Love of money means not only a passionate love for silver, but also for any superfluous and suffocating wealth. The Lord could say: "You cannot serve God and lies, for God is the truth." In the same way He could say, "You cannot serve God and robbery, for God is mercy; God and fornication, for God is purity; God and envy, for God is true love; God and any sin, for God is sinless and an opponent of sin. Why did our Lord Jesus Christ oppose service to God with service to wealth? Because the service of wealth causes, excites and makes possible all other sins and vices. Whoever clings with all his heart to earthly riches will not be able to refrain from lying, stealing, robbery, perjury, or even murder, so long as he preserves and increases his wealth. Nor will he be able to refrain from envy and hatred of those who are richer than him. In addition, wealth will easily open before him the gates of all other sins and vices: drunkenness, gambling, fornication, adultery, and all outrages. And when he sees that people fear and honor him because of wealth, he will cease to fear and honor God, he will look with contempt at the law of God and the Church of God, and soon he will become a complete blasphemer and apostate. That is why the Lord chose precisely the service of wealth - or mammon, the demon of wealth - as the service most opposite to the service of God. Service to wealth leads a person to slavery and completely kills the soul in a person. St. Basil the Great wrote: "Miserable is he who has a need for much; the need in many ways generates in life the insatiability of desires. A fire that burns consumes all the fuel, and no one can stop it until it burns everything. So it is with the lover of money - can anyone stop him?" (On the love of money). On another occasion the Lord said: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul" (Matt. 16:26)? The world is God's, and it will remain God's, but the rich man, when he dies, will remain without peace and without a soul, and will be poorer at the judgment of God than the poorest of his laborers and hired servants in this life.

Therefore I say to you, - continues the Lord, - do not be anxious for your soul what you will eat and what you will drink, nor for your body what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Therefore I say to you. Why? Because wealth is so dangerous for the soul. Because serving mammon does not allow you to serve God. For it pleased me that you should be lords of all the world and of all things, to which God predestined man at creation, and not servants of his servants and slaves of his servants. Therefore, do not be oppressed by heavy concern for food, drink and clothing. It is more difficult to create a body than to provide it with food and clothing. And God, having created the more difficult, will also create the easier. Your Father in heaven knows that you have need of these things. His eye is constantly watching over you, and His generous hands are constantly stretched out to you. Do we not see around us, wherever we look, how the Creator nourishes, waters, and clothes all His creatures? He feeds the ants in the dust, He feeds the beasts in the mountains, He feeds the fish in the waters. When the cold approaches, He sends swallows and cranes to warm lands, where He gives them food for the winter. He finds a den for the bear to spend the winter in. He waters the trees and the grasses, He waters the forests and meadows, He washes all the greenery and flowers.

And after this, will the Lord look upon man as a stepchild among His creatures? Can He, who feeds, waters, and clothes the wild beasts in the forests, the grass in the field, and the bugs in the grass, leave His most glorious creation, man, hungry, thirsty, and naked?

Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor sleep, nor gather into barns. Who nourishes them? Your Heavenly Father feeds them. It is not said, "Their Father," but your Father. God is only the Creator for them, but for you He is more than the Creator - He is your Father. For you are much better than them. With these words, Christ points to the high dignity of man, incomparable with the dignity of other creatures. Are you not much better than the birds of the air? And if you are better, will the all-wise Lord, having nourished His less valuable and less important creatures, forget to nourish the most precious and most important creatures in the world, His sons? Otherwise, all your concern for food and drink will not benefit you at all, unless God gives His vitality to what you eat and quench your thirst. For it is not bread that satisfies you, but the power of God through bread; and it is not the water that quenches your thirst, but the power of God through the water. You can do nothing by yourself: And who among you, by care, can add even one cubit to his height? That is, who among you can through a thousand cares make his body grow by one span? And who among you can continue his life on earth even for one inch of time? Behold, thou hast laid down my days, says King David (Psalm 38:6). Does not he die who eats and drinks much, as does he who eats and drinks little? And don't glutton people die before faster? And does he who eats and drinks much grow even one cubit higher than other people? And if you cannot, by taking care of food and drink, either add to yourself a single span of height, or prolong the life of your body by one span of earthly time, abandon unnecessary cares for the body and give yourself over to the care of the soul, with which, after the disintegration of the body, you will stand before God.

And what do you care about clothes? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you that Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them. At first, the Lord pointed out the birds in order to shame those who take too much care of food. And now he points to the still lower creations of God, to the flowers of the field, in order to shame those who care too much about clothing. But why does the Lord point specifically to lilies, and not to any other flowers, which God has clothed in no less beauty? Firstly, because lilies stand out among all other wildflowers for their whiteness, which symbolizes purity. The seer John saw in heaven the Son of God as a white Lamb and a great multitude of people, the righteous, standing before the throne and before the Lamb in white robes (Rev. 7:9-15). And secondly, because the Lord wished to compare the beauty of this flower with King Solomon, of whom it is said that he was most willing to put on white garments. The Lord compares lilies with Solomon because Solomon was the richest and most glorious king of antiquity. And this all-wise and rich king, in spite of all his cares and labors to dress as beautifully as possible, could not dress as the Lord can clothe dumb grass in the field. Thus, all human cares cannot do what God can do with His power. But if the grass of the field, which is there today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the furnace, God dresses it in this way, how much more so do you, you of little faith! And although the lily is so beautiful, it is just an ordinary grass that blooms today and will burn in fire tomorrow. O you of little faith, will God, Who so carefully clothe the grass of the field, motionless, dumb and dumb, leave you to walk naked? Oh, you of little faith, remember: the more you take care of yourself, the less God cares for you!