Strengthening Hope

Ideo dico vobis, ne cogitetis in corde vestro, quid manducetis; neque corpori vestro, quid vestiatis. Nonne anima vestra pluris est quam esca, et corpus pluris est quam vestimentum. Contemptum saeculi, et fiduciam futurorum toto superiore sermone praeceperat. Nam cum ad injuriam pronos jubet esse, et ad damnum voluntarios, et ad ultionem negligentes, et ad diligendum promiscuos, et ad humanam gloriam incuriosos; confirmari nos in spem bonorum aeternorum laborat. Plures enim et amor praesentium, et desperatio futurorum incertos facit: et aut illecebris capit, aut infidelitate confundit: Ergo regnum coelorum, quod prophetae nuntiaverunt, Joannes praedicavit, Dominus noster in se esse positum est professus, vult sine aliqua incertae voluntatis ambiguitate sperari: alioquin justificatio ex fide nulla est, si fides ipsa fiat ambigua. Igitur curam nullam esse vestitus et cibi praecipit, dicens et escis animam, et cibo corpus esse pretiosius. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap V Source: Migne PL 9.944c-945a

Therefore I say to you do not fret in your heart over what you shall eat, nor for your body, how you shall clothe it. Is your soul not more than food, and your body more than clothing? 1 In His words before this, He commanded contempt for the world and confidence for the future. When He ordered us to be open to insult, and willing to suffer loss, and not to care for revenge, and to be impartial about whom we love, and to be unconcerned with human glory, He was labouring to strengthen us in the hope of eternal goods. But love of present things and despair regarding the future makes many uncertain, and it snares them with enticements, or confounds them by faithlessness. Therefore without any uncertainty of an ambiguous will He wishes us to place our hope in the kingdom of heaven, which the prophets announced and John preached, and our Lord declared was to be found in Himself. Justification by faith is nothing if faith is doubtful. Therefore He commands us to have no care for clothing or food, saying that the soul is more precious than nourishment, the body more than food. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.25