Tuesday – Thirtieth Week – OT2

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Tuesday – Thirtieth Week – OT2

tandat ldnmaijp

Readings: Eph 5:21-33; Lk 13:18-21.

Reading 1 (Eph 5:21-33):

Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the Church,
he himself the savior of the Body.
As the Church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his Body.

For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,
and the wife should respect her husband.

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.”


I. THEME: Use God’s gifts to enlarge His kingdom.           

            A gift can be a two-edges knife, it can help to cut through many things. Similarly, a gift can benefit or hurt the owner; he can use it to benefit or to destroy himself and others. The owner must know its potential and use it properly to have good results.

            Today readings give us many examples of how to use God’s gifts to benefit ourselves and others. In the first reading, St. Paul mentioned two greatest gifts which God gave to people: first, Christ and the Church; and secondly love for couples. He used the image of a head and its body to talk about the necessary relationship between Christ and the Church. As a body can’t live without its head, the Church can’t remain without Christ. He also used this image to talk about the relationship between husband and wife; they can’t be survived without the other. In the Gospel, Jesus used two images of the mustard seed and the yeast to talk about the role of Jesus’ disciples in extending the kingdom of heaven to all people. Though it started with a small group, but it has potential to grow big and to reach to all people.

II. ANALYSIS:

1/ Reading I: Christ is the priceless gift God gave to the Church.

           

1.1/ God gave couples the priceless gift of love: God creates both male and female; He equips each with different gifts. There are gifts which only exist in male and not in female; the reverse is also true. If the couple knows how to use all their gifts, they shall bring out results that exceed their expectation. In order for these gifts to develop greatly and to benefit the couple, their family and others, St. Paul emphasized two virtues which can’t be lacking in them.

            (1) Obedience: “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord; for the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.”

            (2) Love: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.”

            These two virtues can’t be absence in a happy family; even if lacking one, a family shall not be happy. How can a wife obey a husband who doesn’t love his wife; for examples, getting drunken often or using all their family’s saving in casinos? Similarly, how can a husband love a wife who is constantly arguing and contending or shopping instead of saving for her family? To have a happy family, they must practice this verse from St. Paul, “In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.”

1.2/ God give the Church a priceless gift, Jesus Christ: St. Paul compared the closed relationship between Christ and the Church as the spousal relationship and a deep mystery. In this relationship, Christ is the husband, and the Church is his wife. The above two virtues are also critical for this relationship.

            (1) Obedience: The Church must always obey Christ, and out of the reverence for Christ, the Church’s members must obey one another. He is the head, and the Church is his body; all of the faithful are the Church’s members, his body.

            (2) Love: The reason why the Church should love Christ above all because he loves and sacrifices himself for the Church. He purifies and sanctifies the Church by water and ever living words so that he has a Church who is “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

            The Church must obey Christ because he is the only way leading all people to God. Moreover, he showed his immense love for the Church by his Incarnation, teaching, Passion and Death to redeem all people’s sins.

2/ Gospel: God gives human beings the potential to enlarge the kingdom of God.

            Jesus gave his audience two images about the potential of the kingdom of God:

2.1/ It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden: A grain of mustard seed in Palestine is not a seed for vegetable but can become a big tree. Several details we must pay attention to:

            (1) A grain of mustard seed, though tiny, but God gives it a potential to become a big tree. Same thing happens to the kingdom of God, beginning with the Twelve Jewish men, has now become a religion which has about 1/5 of the world’s population; and is still enlarging to the end of the earth.

            (2) A grain of mustard seed must be decayed before it can germinate and become a big tree; if not, it remains lonely as a seed. Same thing happens to the kingdom of God, in order for the kingdom of God to enlarge, the Church needs people who are ready to sacrifice and to accept sufferings by proclaiming the Good News to all people and nations.

            (3) When it becomes a tree, the birds of the air can come and make their nests: God gives people a potential to bear fruits for Him, not to keep for themselves. Like the mustard tree gives space for the birds of the air, people must use God’s gift and grace to protect the weak, not only to protect themselves. If everybody only selfishly takes care of oneself, how can the kingdom of God be enlarged?

2.2/ It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour: Leaven is the old flour which was kept making bread. Its main purpose is to rise up flour. Two things we need to pay attention to:

            (1) Though leaven is small but has potential to rise up three measures of flour. A Hebrew “sáton” is about a peck and a half, and a peck equals eight quarts; so, it is about 12 quarts. Three measures of flour equal to 42 quarts, a big measure of flour. Like a grain of mustard seed, God gives leaven a potential to rise up many measures of flour. Same thing happens to those who have a duty to enlarge God’s kingdom; they can help many to enter God’s kingdom.

            (2) Christian must fulfill their duty to rouse up people by their preaching and witnessing so that when people hear the Good News and see their good works, they will believe in God. One becomes leaven to other, and other continues to do so. By doing as such, the kingdom of God is enlarging.

III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:                    

            – First of all, we must recognize God’s gifts and its potential to help us to achieve what He wants from us;

            – Then we need to know how to develop these gifts to give the maximum results.

            – Lastly, we must use them to benefit ourselves and to help God’s kingdom to be wider every day.

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