²⁴ "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
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 clothing?
²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?
²⁷ Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
²⁸ Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.
²⁹ But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
³⁰ If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
³¹ So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'
³² All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
³³ But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, 19 and all these things will be given you besides.
³⁴ Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

• Context. The Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitude in Matthew chapter 5 (read on the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, includes the Lord's Prayer (6:9-13) and goes through the end of Chapter 7. This passage elaborates on the first item in the second part of the Lord.s prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread."
• This reflection on trust in God's power states a basic principle (25), gives two illustrations regarding food (vv. 26-27) and clothing (vv. 28-30), restates the principle (vv. 31-32), draws a conclusion (v. 33) and adds a final consideration (v. 34). [Harrington]
• "Worry" is repeated six times, probably means "preoccupied" or "absorbed" by. The only goal that should occupy our attention is God's kingdom and righteousness (v. 33) - two terms that mean the same reality in Matthew: seeking the kingdom is to seek justice.
• People in Jesus' time are poor peasants living their earning day by day. Jesus knows perfectly well their basic needs are food (vv. 26-27) and clothing (vv. 28-30): God knows their basic needs and will provide.
• (v. 32) The gentiles seek the same things. By mentioning this fact, Jesus challenges his people to seek their Fathers' Kingdom and that is more important.

A Christian's sole concern is to seek justice, which is to seek the kingdom of God or God's will

1. How many things occupy my mind? What is the relative ranking of the God's kingdom in that list?
2. How do I work for the kingdom of God? How important is justice in that work?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community