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.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
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.’
__________________________________________
Small but great
The Kingdom of God is not an empire or an organization. It is a journey that begins here on earth and is fulfilled in eternity. God is the one who works in the world, transforming it into His Kingdom, but He needs seeds of love; He needs our lives to be inserted in the midst of the world to make it possible. It is like the mustard seed of the parable, small but with significant effects when sown and grown into a large tree.
These parables are very much for each one of us. We are like the yeast that the flour needs to become a good loaf of bread. God needs our lives to spread His love where we live, sowing seeds of care and concern in places of indifference, and overcoming pride and hatred with our love. We are workers for the Kingdom, collaborating with God to bring His Kingdom to earth as we pray in the Our Father: “May your Kingdom come!”
Reflective question:
Do I live the day sowing seeds of love?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
