Dr. Augustin Sokolovski
On the Third Sunday after Pentecost, the Church sets before us a passage from the Sermon on the Mount. This is not accidental. On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Lord promises eternal life to those who have left everything in order to follow Him. On the second Sunday, we see the Apostles who truly left everything behind and found the Kingdom, that is, Christ Himself. Today, the Lord shows us what those who follow Him are called to become.
“The lamp of the body is the eye.” These words are addressed first of all to the leaders of the Church, for they are the eye of the Church, the eye of God turned toward the world. Therefore, they are required to possess a special purity, a special integrity, and a special responsibility.
Yet this call is addressed not only to bishops and priests. The ancient Fathers used to say: “The deacon is the eyes and ears of the bishop.” Many people think: “I am neither a priest nor a bishop; this does not concern me.” Yet it concerns all who assist the shepherds of the Church just as much. If you participate in the ministry of the Church, then the Lord’s words about the pure eye are addressed to you as well, because through you people also see the Church.
The Lord also says: “You cannot serve God and Mammon.” We are not in the Church in order to make money, but in order to give. The Apostles were called not only to become fishers of men through preaching, but also, if one may say so, fishers of fish for men, offering to people the Body and Blood of Christ, His teaching, the sacraments, and the goodness of God.
The Lord calls us to look at the birds of the air. Throughout the history of the Church there have always been people who lived according to this word: martyrs, monks, ascetics, and countless other believers unknown to the world. The Church is a communion. The strength of some sustains the weakness of others. Just as godparents lend their faith to an infant at Baptism, so the spiritual struggle of some helps others.
When we help such people, we become the hand of God. Through us, the Heavenly Father cares not only for the birds of the air, but also for these “human birds” — those who have entrusted themselves entirely to God.
Finally, the Lord says: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” Pagans seek pleasure, wealth, and power. These are the three temptations in the wilderness, the three sixes, the number 666 from the Book of Revelation — the sign of rebellion against God.
Christians are called to become an icon of the God whom they proclaim. Otherwise, each believer individually — and what is even more frightening, all believers together — even here and now, while remaining within the Church, will become a pagan, like the character in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, transformed into an insect. May the Lord preserve us from this.