Daily Readings - Mon Jul 27 2020

¹Thus says the Lord to me: "Go, and obtain for yourself a linen waistcloth. And you shall place it over your loins, and you shall not put it into water.²And so I obtained a waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and I placed it around my loins³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying⁴"Take the waistcloth, which you obtained, which is around your loins, and, rising up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in an opening of the rock.⁵And so I went, and I hid it by the Euphrates, just as the Lord had instructed me⁶And it happened that, after many days, the Lord said to me: "Rise up, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the waistcloth, which I instructed you to hide there.⁷And so I went to the Euphrates, and I dug up and took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistcloth had rotted, so that it was not fit for any use⁸And the word of the Lord came to me, saying⁹"Thus says the Lord: In the same way, I will cause the arrogance of Judah and the arrogance of Jerusalem to rot¹⁰This most wicked people, they are not willing to listen to my words, for they walk in the depravity of their own heart, and they have gone after strange gods, so as to serve them and to adore them. And so, they will become like this waistcloth, which is not fit for any use¹¹For just as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me the entire house of Israel and the entire house of Judah, says the Lord, so that they would be to me: a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory. But they did not listen

Matthew

Chapter 13

³¹He proposed another parable to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field³²It is, indeed, the least of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is greater than all the plants, and it becomes a tree, so much so that the birds of the air come and dwell in its branches.³³He spoke another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of fine wheat flour, until it was entirely leavened.³⁴All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds. And he did not speak to them apart from parables³⁵in order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying: "I will open my mouth in parables. I will proclaim what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.

Sermon

In today's readings, we encounter two powerful messages that invite us to reflect on our relationship with God and the nature of His Kingdom. The first reading from Jeremiah presents a vivid symbolic act: a linen waistcloth that rots away, signifying the spiritual decay of Judah and Jerusalem due to their refusal to listen to God. This serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of turning away from divine guidance and pursuing false idols. The waistcloth, once pure and useful, becomes worthless, much like a people who reject God's word. The Gospel, however, offers a contrasting yet complementary vision through the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. These parables remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven begins small but grows exponentially, transforming everything it touches. Just as the tiny mustard seed becomes a shelter for birds and the leaven permeates the entire dough, our faith, though it may start as a small, seemingly insignificant act, has the power to bring about profound change in our lives and the world around us. These readings together call us to a life of faith and fidelity. While Jeremiah warns us of the dangers of spiritual complacency and rebellion, Matthew encourages us to trust in the transformative power of God's grace. In our daily lives, we are invited to nurture our faith like the mustard seed and allow the leaven of God's love to work through us. Let us listen to God's word with open hearts, allowing it to guide us away from the path of decay and toward the path of growth, hope, and abundant life in His Kingdom.