PRI Reflections on Scripture | Monday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel

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.

Reflection

This week we'll be delving into a topic that seems very important to me. It's called the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God. We're taught that it is both here and still coming. It really is a way of imagining that the plan of God, is that we will all evolve away from evil and into a greater connection, and a more powerful union with the divine.

So here we have two images that help us understand how this all works. And the first and the second, both seem to imply that there's something that is seemingly little, that makes a major difference and grows into something major. What it's talking about is, how is the kingdom of God going to come about? It’s going to come about because people have understood who God is and allow God to work through them, healing the world around them.

It seems so small compared to the transformation of the known world. But what Jesus is trying to say is the tiniest thing the yeast, the tiny seed, when it's infused with divinity, produces an abundant, abundant harvest.

Closing Prayer

Father, awaken our imaginations. Awaken our thoughts so that we can find the message that is so important that you have shared with us. Give us the grace to understand. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kyle Cross