ouen, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of very smal fayth? 31Be not careful therefore, saying, what shal we eate, or what shal we drinke, or wherewith shal we be couered? 32for al these thinges the ∷[1] Heathen do seeke after. For your father knoweth that you neede al these things. 33Seeke therefore first the Kingdom of God, and the iustice of him, and al these things shal be giuen you besides. 34Be not careful therfore for the morow; for the morow day wil be careful for it self. Sufficient for the day is the euil thereof.
ANNOTATIONS
Chap. VI.
1. Iustice.] Hereby it is plaine that good workes be iustice, and that man doing them doth iustice, and is thereby iust & iustified, & not by fayth only. Al which iustice of a Christian man, our Sauiour here compriseth in these three workes, in Almes, fasting, and prayers. Aug. li. perf. iust. c. x. So that to giue almes, is to do iustice, and the workes of mercie are iustice. Aug. in Ps. 49. v. 5.
4. Repay.] This repaying and rewarding of good workes in heauen, often mentioned here by our Sauiour, declareth that the sayd workes are meritorious, and that we may do them in respect of that reward.
5. Hypocrites.] Hypocrisie is forbidden in al these three workes of iustice, and not the doing of them openly to the glorie of God, and the profite of our neighbour, & our owne saluation: for Christ before (c. 5.) biddeth, saying: Let your light so shine before men &—c. And in al such workes S. Gregories rule is to be followed, The worke so to be in publike, that the intention remayne in secrete. Ho. 11. in Euang. c. 10.
7. Much speaking.] Long prayer is not forbid, for Christ himself spent whole nights in prayer; and he sayth, we must pray alwayes; and the Apostle exhorteth to pray without intermission; and the holy Church from the beginning hath had her Canonical houres of prayer: but idle and voluntary babling, either of the Heathens to their gods, or of Heretikes, that by long Rhetorical prayers thinke to persuade God: wheras the Collects of the Church are most breefe and most effectual. See S. Augustine ep. 121, c. 8, 9. 10.
11. Supersubstantial bread.) By this bread so called here according to the Latin word & the Greeke, we aske not only al necessarie sustenance for the bodie, but much more al spiritual food, namely the blessed Sacrament itself, which is Christ the true bread that came from Heauen, & the bread of life to vs that eate his bodie. Cypr. de orat. Do. Aug. ep. 121 c. 11. And therfore it is called here Supersubstantial, that is, the bread that passeth and excelleth al creatures, Hiero. in. 2. Tit. In 6. Mat. Amb. li. 5. de Sacr. 6. 4. Aug. ser. 28. de verb. Do. sec. Mat. S. Germanus in Theoria.
12. Debts.) These debts do signifie not only mortal sinnes, but also venial, as S. Augustine often teacheth: and therfore euery man, be he neuer so iust, yet because he can not liue without venial sinnes, may very truly and ought to say this prayer. Aug. cont. duas. ep. Pelag. li. 1. 6. 14. li. 21 de Ciuit. 6. 27.
13. Leade vs not.] S. Cypr. readeth, Ne patiaris nos induci. Suffer vs not to be led, as S. Augustine noteth li. de bo. perseu. c. 6. and so the holy Church vnderstandeth it, because God (as S. Iames sayth) tempteth no man: though for our sinnes, or for our probation and crowne, he permit vs to be tempted. Beware then of Beza's exposition vpon this place, who (according to the Caluinists opinion) saith, that God leadeth them into tentation, into whom himself bringeth in Satan for to fil their harts: so making God the authour of sinne.
14. If you forgeue.) This poynt, of forgiuing our Brother, when we aske forgiuenes of God, our Sauiour repeateth agayne, as a thing much to be considered: and therfore commended in the parable also of the seruant that would not forgiue his felow seruant, Mat. 18.
- ↑ They seeke temporal things only, and that not of the true God, but of their Idols, or by their owne industrie.
