And He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your soul what you will eat, nor for your body what you will wear: the soul is greater than food, and the body is more than clothing." Look at the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap; they have neither storehouses nor barns, and God nourishes them; How much better are you than birds? And who among you, by care, can add even one cubit to his height? If, then, you cannot do the least, why do you care about anything else? 

Little by little, the Lord ascends to the teaching of the highest perfection. Notice the order. He taught us to guard against covetousness and added the parable of the rich man to prove that he who desires a great deal is a fool. Extending the teaching further, He does not allow us to take care of the necessary things. Just as the devil, beginning with small sins, plunges us into greater sins, which is why he is called in Job (Job 4:11) "the mighty lion," so, on the contrary, the Lord, destroying his works, first teaches us to avoid great sins, and then points out their beginnings. Having commanded us to beware of covetousness, he also comes to its root, that is, care, so that even the root may be cut off, and says: "Therefore I say unto you." Since," he says, "he is foolish who appoints to himself a long life, and being deceived by it, desires more, such as the rich man mentioned, therefore I say to you: "Do not be anxious for your soul what you eat." He said this, not because the rational soul eats, but because the soul seems to be kept in connection with the body only on the condition that we eat food. And in other words: the body, being dead, is clothed, but no longer nourished. Since it is proper for the animate body to eat, He rightly attributed the use of food to the soul. Or: Is not the nourishing force called the soul? Therefore, with the nourishing part of the irrational soul, do not be concerned about what you eat, nor with your body what you will wear. For this he represents the reason. Will He Who gave the greater, namely the soul, also give food? Who gave the body, will he not also give a garment? Then he proves by the example of ravens. He points to birds in order to make us more ashamed. He could have cited the holy prophets as examples, such as Elijah and Moses, but for greater shame He points to birds. Then he presents another reason. Tell me, perhaps, what profit do you get from worries? Do you add even the slightest part to your height? No, on the contrary, you even exhaust your body, for care dries you up. But if you cannot add the slightest, that you care about the rest? Obviously, as God gives growth, so will He give.

     Look at the lilies, how they grow: they do not work, they do not spin; but I tell you that Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them. But if God dresses the grass in the field, which is there today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more so do you, you of little faith! Therefore, do not seek what you will eat or drink, and do not be anxious, for all these things are sought by the people of this world; but your Father knows that you have need of it; above all, seek the Kingdom of God, and all this will be added to you.

And the Lord set up the example of lilies for our greater admonition. For if God clothes lilies in such a way that the glory of Solomon could never be compared with any of them, and moreover, since beauty is not necessary for lilies, how much more will He clothe us, His most honorable creation, when clothing is necessary for our body? "What," they will say, "do you command us not to cultivate the land?" I did not say, Do not cultivate the land, but do not be anxious. I do not forbid you to do, but I forbid you to worry, that is, to have hope in yourself. And whoever does and trusts in God lives carefree. It is clear that He eradicates care, because it distances from God. - Further he says: "Do not seek what you will eat or drink, and do not be anxious." Anxiety (in Church Slavonic, exaltation) is undoubtedly nothing other than entertainment and the inconstant direction of the mind, which thinks now about this and that, jumps from one thing to another, and always dreams of something higher. Doesn't that mean chasing meteors? Such care, as distancing us from God, or frivolity, is forbidden by the Lord, saying that "all these things are sought by the people of this world." For care does not stop at what is necessary, but, as I have said, always seeks the higher, which is why it is called ascension upward. For example, we have no bread. At first we are anxious to obtain it, but we do not stop there, but desire to obtain bread from excellent wheat; then we desire wine, and a flowery fragrant one at that; then we want fried food, and moreover from grouse or pheasants. Do you see what care and light-mindedness there is? Therefore, the Lord resolutely stops it, for this is what the pagans seek. - Then he presents another reason, namely, that our Father knows what we have need of, and presents not one, but many reasons. He says: He is the "Father", and if the Father, then how can He not give? Moreover, He "knows," for He does not know. And you also "have need," for this is not superfluous, but necessary. So, if He is the Father, and you are in need, and He knows, how can He not give? Therefore, first of all, seek the Kingdom of God, and reject the concern for the things of this world, as one that separates you from Him, and then all this will be given to you. Do you see what God is like? If you seek little, you do what is not pleasing to Him, for you offend His greatness; if you seek the great, you will also receive it, and the small is given to you. For if He sees that you are busy seeking His Kingdom, then He will certainly provide for you in your needs. Do we not even act in this way in our affairs? And do we take more care of those who have completely given themselves over to our care, and are so prudent to them, as if they did not look after themselves? How much more will the Lord do so? Thus, the Lord cuts short the concern for worldly things in order to persuade us to seek His Kingdom: for with cares for worldly things this is impossible.

     Do not be afraid, little flock! for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Prepare for yourselves vaginas that do not decay, a treasure that does not fail in heaven, where the thief does not approach and where the moth does not devour: for where your treasure is, there will your heart also be. 

The Lord calls those who wish to be His disciples "a little flock" either because there are very few saints in this world because of the required arbitrary poverty and lack of acquisitiveness, or because they are fewer than the Angels, whose hosts are innumerable and incomparably exceed the number of us. And that there are many more angels is evident from the parable in which the Lord said that the shepherd rejoices more over one who has gone astray and is found again than over ninety-nine who are not lost (Luke 15:7). For from this it can be seen that as one belongs to the ninety-nine, so does the human race to the angelic world. "Do not be afraid," he says, "of the little flock," that is, do not doubt that God will provide for you, even though you do not care for yourself. Why? Because the Father was pleased to give you the Kingdom. If He gives the Kingdom, how much more will He give earthly things. Therefore, do not think that if you do not assimilate poverty to yourself, there will be no Providence for you, but sell your possessions, give alms, and make your treasure inexhaustible. Then he convinces us with indisputable conclusions. Here," he says, "the moth eats, but in the sky it does not. Is it not madness, then, to store treasure in a place where it is damaged? Then, because the moth does not eat gold. He added, "Where the thief does not approach." For if the moth does not eat the gold, the thief steals it. Then, since not everyone is robbed, He adds an even greater and completely irrefutable foundation. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." "Let it be," he says, "that the moth will not eat it, and the thief will not come near, but the very enslavement of the heart to the treasure buried in the ground, and the casting into the ground of the godlike being of what soul, is worthy of punishment? How much more is the punishment (offered) to him who has understanding? Where your treasure is, there is your heart. If the treasure is in the earth, then the heart is in it; if the treasure is in heaven, then the heart is woe. Who would not rather be woe than underground, to be an angel than a mole living in subterranean holes?

     Let your loins be girded up, and your lamps burning. And be like men who wait for their lord to return from his marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, he may immediately open it to him. Blessed are those servants whom the lord comes, and finds watching; Verily I say unto you, he shall gird himself up, and sit them down, and when he cometh near, he shall minister to them: and if he come to the second watch, and come to the third watch, and thus find them, blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Be ye also ready, for at an hour when you do not think the Son of Man will come.