THE DAILY GOSPEL

October 27, 2015 (Tuesday) Ps 126:1b- 2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6 The Lord has done marvels for us. 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Psalter: Week 2/(Green) 1st Reading: Rom8:18-25

I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the glory that will be revealed and given to us. All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God. For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope; for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth. Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.

In hope we already have salvation. But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope: How can you hope for what is already seen? So we hope for what we do not see and we will receive it through patient hope. Gospel: Lk 13:18-21

And Jesus continued speaking, “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 his 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.” Reflection:

The mustard seed is very small, hardly greater than dust. However, a mustard tree is bigger than any garden plant. That is why birds can nest in its branches. Similarly, yeast is insignificant, but its effect is great: The whole mass of dough rises.

Why did Jesus use these parables to explain the Kingdom of God?

He knew the Father’s will and he had prophetic vision. Beyond human empires—Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, Mongol, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, British, French, German, American…—the Kingdom of God is not the fruit of military and powerful conquests; the salvation it brings is for eternity; its visible presence is however a growing nest for humankind and its effects transform human history and even the entire creation.

As Christians, do we consider ourselves through the Church in Christ, as instruments of this universal expectation of the kingdom of justice, holiness and peace forever?

Only in heaven will we enjoy the kingdom of God that we forefeel now in hope.