First reading Ephesians 5:21-33
Give way to one another in obedience to Christ
Give way to one another in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they regard the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body – and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church. To sum up; you too, each one of you, must love his wife as he loves himself; and let every wife respect her husband.
Responsorial Psalm 127(128):1-5
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
Gospel Luke 13:18-21
The kingdom of God is like the yeast that leavened three measures of flour
Jesus said, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’
Another thing he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’
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Mustard seed and yeast
In the gospel, Jesus compared the kingdom of God with a man sowing a small mustard seed that later grew into a big tree where birds found
shelter and some yeast mixed with flour to produce loaves of bread as nourishment for many. Small actions but significant outcomes.
shelter and some yeast mixed with flour to produce loaves of bread as nourishment for many. Small actions but significant outcomes.
God uses not big and grand but small and ordinary things to spread His Kingdom of love. Today, by our small acts of love and kindness to those we meet, we can open the way for the kingdom of God to be present among us.
Reflective question:
Am I aware that I am God’s mustard seed and yeast that He has placed
to make a difference in the places where I am?
Am I aware that I am God’s mustard seed and yeast that He has placed
to make a difference in the places where I am?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
