We hear a couple of short parables in the Gospel reading today from Luke 13. Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and yeast. Do you remember when Jesus talked about how the least would be the greatest? That is the mystery of the mustard seed. And the yeast? Yeast changes the very nature of bread; it causes to rise, to become great. So it is with the Kingdom of God.
In the first reading today from Romans 8, St. Paul says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” He then goes on to say, “…that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” I absolutely love this phrase. The glorious freedom of the children of God. But what is this “glorious freedom?” Is it some future event that we will experience after the resurrection of the body? Certainly that is part of it.
I believe that this glorious freedom is something that we can (and hopefully do) experience every day. It is freedom from slavery to sin. It is the freedom of knowing that we do not have to be bound and chained by our past. It is freedom to live in the moment and bask in God’s amazing love and grace. Right here; right now. It is reveling in the hope of a future living with God forever. (Read what St. Paul says about hope in today’s reading.) It is being released from those prisons that so many of us stay in willingly. Fear, despair, regret, anger, envy…just to name a few. Come out, my friend! Enjoy the glorious freedom of the children of God!
Father, we thank you for opening the doors to our prisons, for releasing us and setting us free. May we live today and always in the glorious freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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