GOSPEL - 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.” Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
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.” Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
PRAYER - Prayer for our Pope
Prayer #36 from the Oratory: Place of Prayer Book ($7)
Prayer #36 from the Oratory: Place of Prayer Book ($7)
O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, You have willed Your servant to be the pre-eminent shepherd of Your Church, graciously look upon him, and grant to him, we beseech Thee, to benefit by word and deed those whom he rules, so that, with the faithful flock, he may come to life eternal. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Tuesday is dedicated to the Holy Angels
STUDY - Excerpt from Mustard Seed
Why is the Church compared to a grain of mustard-seed? “Because there is a great similarity between them. The mustard-seed, though so small, grows in Palestine so high and so rapidly, that it becomes a broad tree, in which birds can build their nests. In like manner the Church of Christ was in the beginning very small like the mustard-seed, but it soon spread so wide that numberless people, even great philosophers and princes, came to find peace and protection under its branches.” [1]
Christ and the Church are one. There is only one Body, the Body of Christ, the Church. The tree is both Christ and the Church. “It is an absurd dichotomy to love Christ without the Church; to listen to Christ but not the Church; to be with Christ at the margins of the Church. One cannot do this. It is an absurd dichotomy,” [2]
Why is the Church compared to a grain of mustard-seed? “Because there is a great similarity between them. The mustard-seed, though so small, grows in Palestine so high and so rapidly, that it becomes a broad tree, in which birds can build their nests. In like manner the Church of Christ was in the beginning very small like the mustard-seed, but it soon spread so wide that numberless people, even great philosophers and princes, came to find peace and protection under its branches.” [1]
Christ and the Church are one. There is only one Body, the Body of Christ, the Church. The tree is both Christ and the Church. “It is an absurd dichotomy to love Christ without the Church; to listen to Christ but not the Church; to be with Christ at the margins of the Church. One cannot do this. It is an absurd dichotomy,” [2]
[1] The Church’s Year pg. 101
[2] Pope Francis; Homily January 30, 2014
[2] Pope Francis; Homily January 30, 2014
