Priest Message
06/21/2026
Sermon on the Third Sunday of Saint Matthew, 2026
In The Name Of The Father and Of The Son and Of The Holy Spirit, AMEN!
My Dear Family in The Lord,
From the medical viewpoint we know, that the eyes in our body, transmit visual information to the brain. This is very important, because, vision is one of the five senses given to us by God and by seeing the things around us, we can process better the information.
When I was a student, I had and I still have a very good, what is called, a “photographic memory”, meaning that when I read the courses, the books and all the materials, that I had to study, to prepare for my exams, I could remember different subjects and topics, even knowing,
what page they were at.
It was my way of studying and learning, other people have other talents and methods to study and learn.
But in essence we all use our vision as an important element to communicate and to understand better that we have to do and how to live our lives!
In today’s Gospel Lesson, Our Lord is telling us, that: “The eye is the lamp of the body.”(Matthew 6:22) and He continues by saying: “So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:23)
This text self explains itself, what the expression of our face tells the people about us. If we have a shiny faces, and people see that, they will immediately know, that our hearts, souls and minds are full of light, full of The Love Of Christ and they will appreciate that, they will immediately understand that, here is a man of God! A man of God who lives a Christian life and who is ready to share through his/her words and personal example, their faith in The Lord with others. A person like that who is always ready to do the work of God, to help others and to serve them as much as they can in every aspect of their lives.
But if our eye is not sound, then our whole entire inside is seen as a place of darkness, a place that does not radiate The Light of Christ and does not show any signs that he or she, follow Our Lord Jesus Christ!
After that The Lord continues by saying: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) These words suggest that we cannot live a “dual life”, we cannot pretend that we serve The Lord, but instead that is only an appearance that we show from the outside, but in our inside we are serving both, God and mammon, because we are so “emersed” so to speak into the cares and pleasures of this life. We cannot live “a double
life” like that! We need to serve only One Master and That Master should always be Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ!
Then, The Lord continues His speech by offering us examples not to be worry and not to get tight up in different cares of this world, such as, what we shall eat or what we shall drink, or how we shall clothe, because He Is aware of all these things and will provide us with everything that we need!
The Lord also offers us the examples of the birds of the air, saying that Our Heavenly Father feeds them, as well as the lilies of the field, how they grow, “they neither toil, nor they spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-29)
“O men of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:31-33)
My Dear Sisters and Brothers in The Lord,
We have around us, all the time, so many temptations going on, temptations that emphasize everything that our Gospel lesson today tell us, being concerned about our food, our clothing and many other temporary cares and pleasures. Many times, all these create such “a
competition” that can be very dangerous, that makes us to look for and to make us proud of our own selves and give us a sense of “superiority” over our brothers and sisters, thinking that if we can afford all kinds of fashion brands or eat quality foods, we are “much better” human beings than others!
Each time when we feel, or when we are tempted to think that way, we shall remember the last words of today’s Gospel: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:33) Amen!
I can’t wait to see you in Church!
May God bless y’all and your families!
In Jesus Christ Our Lord, I remain, prayerfully yours,
+ Fr. Catalin
