First reading Ephesians 1:11-14
You have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit
It is in Christ that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
Now you too, in him,
have heard the message of the truth and the good news of your salvation,
and have believed it;
and you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
the pledge of our inheritance
which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for his own, to make his glory praised.
Responsorial Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,12-13
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.
Gospel Luke 12:1-7
Not one sparrow is forgotten in God’s sight
The people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak, first of all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy. Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.
‘To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’
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God cares
“Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight”. For us, one sparrow might be unimportant. Yet,for God, He remembers and cares for His creation, even the smallest and insignificant ones. God cares for His creation, and so too must we.
Jesus then states that God cares too for us, who are worth more than many sparrows. “Why, every hair on your head has been counted”. Jesus reveals a God who is not impersonal or distant but actively involved in our lives. Why? Because He loves us. Thus, there is no need for us to live in constant fear and anxiety because we can entrust ourselves to God. Each one of us is loved by Him and is precious to Him.
Reflective question:
Do I believe that I am precious to God?
Do I believe that I am precious to God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
