Prayer moment

Be still, quiet your heart and mind, the Lord is here loving you, talking to you.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005
30th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Rom 8:18-25
Gospel: Luke 13:18-21
Jesus said, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed and planted it in the garden. The seed has grown and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”
And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast and hidden it in three measures of flour until it is all leavened.”

Commentary
JESUS has just healed this bent woman and he goes on with his sermon. He gives two images of his presence in the world, his kingdom on earth. A man who plants a mustard seed in a vineyard—creating havoc in those orderly rows—growing into a bush, and small tree where the birds of the air come for shelter (and they eat the grapes too!). And a woman who buries yeast in masses of flour—mixed with the right amount of water, sweetness and heat and works strenuously to make the mess rise and become bread for the earth. He has just showed them what it looks like—the bent woman, like the masses of people in need of liberation, now free and brought to shelter in the tree (the cross) and all those who will be feed on Word, bread of Eucharist and justice’s compassion because of baptism, the Spirit and the struggle to bring the Good News to the poor in reality. Do we dwell in the kingdom of God? Are we hard at work making bread for the masses of people and raising those in despair and brokenness to life?

Biblical texts are taken from CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY BIBLE, Catholic Pastoral Edition. Gospel commentaries are from Bible Diary. Copyright ©2001 by Claretian Publications U.P. P.O. Box 4 Diliman, 1101 Quezon City, Philippines Tel.: (632) 921-3984 . Fax: (632) 921-7429 E-mail: claret@cnl.net