The Feast must grow bigger and smaller at the same time. We expand by multiplying Feasts around the world, but we also shrink by building small groups—what we call Feast Light and Light Groups. Two years ago, we started a Feast Light in one of the mission stations in the Diocese of Kalookan in Pamasawata (Pamayanan at Samahan ng Walang Tahanan). It was a brave move for us in response to the call to reach out to grassroots communities.

During the Jesus Encounter, our renewal seminar, one shared how blessed they were to experience what we have been doing for them. I was amazed at how people were moved by the presence of our Feast or even the Church in their midst. Our servants would come home awed by the stories of those they encountered, even if they went there to bless these poor people. Never discount the power of small talk and a presence full of love. It is like yeast that expands the Kingdom of God.

Randel Serrano (randeljoseph_serrano@yahoo.com)

Reflect:

“A true disciple of Jesus will always go to where people are weak, broken, sick, in pain, poor, lonely, forgotten, anxious, and lost.” (Henri Nouwen)

Send me, Lord, to fill the gap where there is an empty space, where my smallness counts to create ripples of Your love. Amen.

Saint Samson, pray for us.

Aaron describes to Moses how the golden calf was created, but it seems to be lacking. How can a calf simply come out of gold that has been melted in the fire? Perhaps, this is a primitive and even nascent psychological understanding of the nature of sin. The author of today’s reading may be conveying to the reader a certain mystery about sin; it seems that we cannot really put our finger on its origins. 

¹⁵ Moses turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back; ¹⁶ tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself. ¹⁷ Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “That sounds like a battle in the camp.” ¹⁸ But Moses answered, “It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry.” ¹⁹ As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses’ wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain. ²⁰ Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink. ²¹ Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?” ²² Aaron replied, “Let not my lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. ²³ They said to me, ‘Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ ²⁴ So I told them, ‘Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” ³⁰ On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the Lord, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! ³² If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.” ³³ The Lord answered, “Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. ³⁴ Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23

R: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

¹⁹ Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image; ²⁰ they exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock. (R) ²¹ They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt, ²² Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea. (R) ²³ Then he spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, his chosen one, withstood him in the breach to turn back his destructive wrath. (R) 

Gospel | Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus uses different parables to illustrate to His listeners the nature of God’s Kingdom. As we reflect upon these parables, let us draw from the truth of the Kingdom of God so we will be able to live it. Some aspects of living for His Kingdom are difficult. Are we willing to pay the price for our citizenship in heaven? 

Gospel Acclamation

The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

³¹ 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. ³² 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.” ³³ 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.” ³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, ³⁵ 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.

Read the Bible in one year! Read ESTHER A - 4 today.

Jesus used the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast to teach about the Kingdom of God in today’s Gospel. He wanted to reveal to His listeners the potential and vitality of God’s reign. It does not start grand, but it gradually unfolds and wields its unlimited power. 

God has blessed the Church with His presence. It is in the Church, the community of believers, that we can experience the reign of God. His Word and His Body are made available to everyone in the Church—and par excellence, in the Eucharist. There are also the baptized—those who have been renewed in Christ, freed from original sin, and sanctified with His priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions. Each baptized Christian was given the potential to attain holiness and share them with others. When those graces are used and lived, nothing can separate them from God. The martyrs were witnesses to these. Who could say that they would be able to attain martyrdom at any point in their lives? 

The “mustard seed” and the ”yeast” in them gradually grew to an immeasurable power—a power that even death cannot defeat. 

In the recent past, we were beset with an invisible enemy—the COVID-19 virus. It was a wonder how something microscopic literally brought the world to its knees. Power, riches, intelligence, and other worldly resources were no match to it. It wielded its power when it was allowed to spread. To many, it was the cause of their death. 

The reign of God is similar—when we nurture it, live it, and preach it, it has unlimited power. Even if we cannot see or hold it, our faith in God, who is true to His Word, guarantees its effectiveness. God is at work. His Word is alive. His reign is upon us.

Fr. Benny Tuazon

reflection questions

Have you experienced the reign of God? If you did, how did it affect your life? If not, how are you finding it? 

God, our Father, I long to be in Your Kingdom. I beg You to grant me the graces to be worthy of it, find it, and experience it even here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________________