Three Short Homilies of St John Chrysostom

Extract

Of being for nothing solicitous.

Christ teacheth that we should work for ourselves and, going without much, become content with little. Thus for Himself, He cut down even of necessities, using no beast to bear Him, but walking such distances that He became weary with His journey Wherefore, said He: ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head:’ and of His days and nights, too, He spent most on the mountains and in the deserts. And of Him did David foretell: ‘He shall drink of the Evangelist in the way.’ So then at the Well of Sychar doth John the Evangelist shew the Lord to be careless of food, treating the matter as of little import; and thus were the disciples taught, taking with them no provisions for the road. Different indeed from us, who rising from our beds are soon calling for provisions, and with earnestness, concerning ourselves with cooks and caterers.