Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

“Marriage of the Virgin (detail)”
by Luca Giordano, c. 1688

Readings for Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Ephesians 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.
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Commentary on Eph 5:21-33
 
“St Paul here provides a general principle which should govern relationships among members of the Church: they should submit to one another, knowing that Christ is their true judge. At the same time, the apostle uses this principle to say something about relationships in society, specifically family relationships; in these there is an element of natural dependence - of wife on husband (5:22- 24).” [4] 
 
The evangelist uses the theological analogy of the relationship between Christ and his Church as mirrored in the love between husband and wife. “The husband loves his wife truly, he is completely faithful to her (Hosea 1:3; Jeremiah 2:20; Ezekiel 16:1-34). God is forever faithful to the love he has shown Israel, and he is ever ready to pardon her (cf. Isaiah 54:5-8; 62:4-5; Jeremiah 31:21-22) and to re-establish his Covenant with the people (cf. Isaiah 16:5-63). Jesus also describes himself as the bridegroom (cf. Matthew 9:15; John 3:29) and he uses the image of the wedding banquet to explain the significance of his coming (cf. Matthew 22:1-14; 25:1-13).” [5]
 
Paul concludes his analogy with a citation from Genesis 2:24. “Genesis recounts the institution of marriage, between the first couple, Adam and Eve. Despite God’s intention that this covenant be a permanent, fruitful, and exclusive bond of companionship, numerous deviations from the divine plan have marred its beauty over the centuries (e.g., polygamy, divorce, adultery, concubinage). Christ came to redeem marriage from these aberrations, restore its original dignity, and enrich it with sacramental grace (Matthew 19:3-9) (CCC1605, 1615-16).” [6]
 
CCC: Eph 5:21-26 2204; Eph 5:21 1269, 1642; Eph 5:25-27 772; Eph 5:25-26 757, 1616; Eph 5:25 616, 1659; Eph 5:26-27 757, 1617; Eph 5:26 628, 796, 1228; Eph 5:27 773, 796, 1426; Eph 5:29 757, 796; Eph 5:31-32 796, 1602, 1616; Eph 5:31 1627; Eph 5:32 772, 1624, 1659
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
 
R. (1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
 
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
 
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
 
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
 
Psalm 128 is a song of thanksgiving. It begins here with the typical blessings given to those following and having faith in the Lord. This selection uses the analogy of the family and the blessing it brings to the faithful, using the symbolism of vines and olives, imagery commonly used in Sacred Scripture.
 
It also supports the creation of woman and the marriage theme in Genesis 2:18-25. It is the logical extension of the two becoming one flesh and the children flowing from that union.
 
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Gospel: Luke 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.”
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Commentary on Lk 13:18-21
 
These two parables describe the humble beginnings and the ultimate growth of the kingdom of God presented through Jesus’ ministry. While they have parallel passages in the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark (Matthew 13:31-33 and Mark 4:30-32), they are especially powerful for the Gentile population to which St. Luke ministers because of the inclusive nature of the stories.
 
Our Lord "with the parable of the mustard seed encourages them to have faith and shows them that the Gospel preaching will spread in spite of everything. The Lord's disciples were the weakest of men, but nevertheless, because of the great power that was in them, the Gospel has been spread to every part of the world." [7]

“The parable [of the mustard seed] is very brief, even though its magnetic lines shoot outward in many directions at once, creating a ‘tree’ of meanings and associations that is a worthy doublet of the tree of the kingdom of which it speaks. The essential meaning is as plain as it is profound: that the authentic works of God always begin in a very small way; that the divine Presence and actions, therefore, are most likely to be either overlooked as nonexistent or scorned as insignificant; and, in conclusion, that for these reasons the person truly searching for God and his kingdom must have not only a great desire for them but also equally great patience in order to wait for the full and incontrovertible development of God’s work in our midst.” [8]
 
CCC: Lk 13:20-21 2660
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Reflection:
 
We are reminded today, as we hear once more the two parables in the Gospel, of the old rhyme (The earliest version of the rhyme is in John Gower's "Confessio Amantis" dated approximately 1390.):
 
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the message was lost.
For want of the message the battle was lost.
For want of the battle the country was lost.
For want of a shoe the country was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
 
From the very small beginnings in Israel, the word and work of Jesus has spread throughout the world. The Church is in virtually every country, and the Bible is the most published and distributed book in history. When we think of how far God’s plan has progressed in these two millennia we are amazed. Think of it. When the Lord suffered his passion and death, there were only eleven –eleven disciples of Jesus. That does not include his mother, Mary, Queen of the Saints, nor the other women who were with them. But still, there were certainly fewer than 100 people in the world who knew and believed Jesus' identity and mission.
 
From that humble beginning, in that backwater part of the world, sprang all the Christians everywhere. When that is considered, we wonder how anyone can doubt God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. We are awed by what has happened in the world because God’s Son chose to reveal his Father in the way he did.
 
We also feel insignificant at times in this grand plan our Heavenly Father has put into motion. We feel at times like our role is so insignificant that it would be alright if we sort of took time out from pushing forward with our zeal to bring that message to others. That feeling of insignificance is the reason we recalled that simple middle German rhyme. You see that mustard plant that God’s Church has become does not live in a gentle and loving world. Everyone is needed to keep God’s mission flourishing and growing. On the vine that is the Church, there are always leaves and even branches that are dying or cut back by a hostile world. We are part of that organic growth and the life of faith depends upon each of us.
 
Today our prayer is that we might help the kingdom of God expand, even just a little, through our efforts for the greater glory of the Father. We pledge to keep the promise handed down to us and to remain faithful to the one who gave all that we might live.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Marriage of the Virgin (detail)” by Luca Giordano, c. 1688.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Letters of St. Paul, The Navarre Bible, Four Courts Press, 2003, p. 407.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 353.
[7] St. John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St. Matthew," 46.
[8] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003 p. 238.