Saints Joachim & Anne | Monday 26 July 2021

Today is Monday the 26 July, the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of Our Lady, in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time.

In Thy Kingdom. As you listen, take a moment to imagine the kingdom of God in your mind’s eye…

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus put another parable before the crowds: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;  it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."  He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."  Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.  This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."

Mustard-seeds growing, and yeast within dough—what do these images evoke in you?  How do they speak to you?

‘The Kingdom of heaven is like …’ – if Jesus were speaking to a crowd in your home town today, do you think he'd use these same images, or are there different parables you think he might tell?

It’s interesting that Jesus seems to have preferred parables and images when talking about the Kingdom.  He didn’t go in for theory or for direct description.  As you listen again, ask yourself why Jesus talks in the ways he does.

‘The Kingdom of heaven is like …’ What would it feel like if Jesus addressed one of his parables to you? -  if Jesus was speaking those words to you, now?  Speak to him now about how it might feel, and how you would respond.

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.