Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: July 31, 2023

Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches." He spoke to them another parable. The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened." All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

Breaking the text open:

The gospel reading for today, Monday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time and the observance of Memorial of St. Ignatius, is from the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s text presents Jesus’ parables of the kingdom of heaven where He likens it to a mustard seed and to the yeast mixed into flour to make bread. Their potential for growth and for transformation can be missed because of their small size.

What message does this carry for us today? We are called to trust in the grace and the LORD’s divine design for us and our world and to cooperate with that grace. While our faith may begin small, the LORD’s grace will nurture it and us. With faith, hope and love and the power of the Spirit, we and our sisters and brothers are part of the living body.

Meditating on the text:

Do I at times dismiss the need to act on my faith and from my faith, questioning what difference will it make? Do I pray daily for the help of the Spirit in navigating my life and becoming the one I was created to be and called to be?

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, Beloved Son, Most Holy Spirit, we lift our voices in praise for all that You are: our creator, our redeemer, our sanctifier. We look around us and are moved to offer heartfelt thanksgiving for all the goodness that flows from You, love itself, in our world, in us. We beg that You will guide our minds and hearts as we journey through this life so that we might discern your will for us and cooperate with your graces. Grant that we may be willing agents of your kingdom here on earth and that our journey will bring us to union with You and life in abundance. 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.