From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 13:18-21)
Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
Jesus uses this parable to compare a heavenly mystery to a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has ever observed the growth of a planted seed. A child who marvels at the sprouting and growth of a tiny seed takes in this mystery just as the childlike in faith take in the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Jesus asks a rhetorical question, suggesting the inadequacy of comparisons and the completeness that lies in the mystery. “Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.” “To what can I compare it?” At the coming of his passion, Jesus would later reveal to the disciples what would become of a planted seed: “Amen, amen, I say to you, “. . . unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
Father in heaven, help me take in the mystery of your kingdom that Jesus reveals to all who would hear him. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord,” the psalmist prays. “You shall eat the fruit of your handiwork.” Although hidden in mystery, you are fully present and at work in the world. Guide me today, Lord, as I look confidently to you in faith. Give me the grace to trust in you, especially when your work in my life is not readily apparent to me but is hidden in mystery. Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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