First reading 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Neither the planter nor the waterer matters, only God, who makes things grow
Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?
After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.
Responsorial Psalm 32(33):12-15,20-21
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
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.
From the place where he dwells he gazes
on all the dwellers on the earth;
he who shapes the hearts of them all;
and considers all their deeds.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Gospel Luke 4:38-44
He would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
An Undivided Heart
In the first reading, St Paul addressed the Christian community in Corinth, which was experiencing division among its members. Some said, “I am for Paul” and others said, “I am for Apollos.” Paul reminded the community that neither he nor Apollos should be their focus; rather, only God should be the centre. They were merely instruments who planted and watered the seed of faith, but it was God alone who gave the growth. A single-minded life of service begins when we make God our centre, secure in the reality that we belong to Him.
In the Gospel, Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law and many others who came to Him. After a tiring day, Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray. Although the crowds tried to keep Him from leaving, Jesus did not allow popularity or others’ opinions to define His mission. He knew that God wanted Him to proclaim the Good News in other places too. Today, let us be rooted in prayer, so that our hearts can be completely centred on God, rather than on self-importance, popularity, or the pressure to please others. From this single focus, our lives of love and service will flow.
Reflective question:
What distractions keep my heart from loving and serving God with undivided love?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
