＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-7

Love justice, you who rule  over the world.

Think rightly of God, seek him with simplicity of heart, for he reveals himself to those who do not challenge him and is found by those who do not distrust him. Crooked thinking distances you from God, and his Omnipotence, put to the test, confounds the foolish.

Wisdom does not enter the wick­ed nor remain in a body that is en­slaved to sin. The Holy Spirit who instructs us shuns deceit; it keeps aloof from foolishness and is ill at ease when injustice is done.

 Wisdom is a spirit, a friend to man, and will not leave the blasphemous unpunished, be­cause God knows his inner­­most feelings, truly sees his thoughts and hears what he says.  For God’s spirit has filled the whole world and he who holds together all things, knows each word that is spoken.

 

Ps 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10

Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊     

Luke 17:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples, “Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who has brought it about. It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck. Truly this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall.

 Be careful. If your brother offends you, rebuke him and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in a day but says to you seven times: ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive him.”

 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree: ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

  

 Gospel Reflection：

Faith is not assessed in terms of size. It is assessed in terms of its quality. There is no point saying that your faith is as big as the boulders of the mountain because these enormous rocks have no life. It sure is big but it will never grow.

It is stagnant and will never increase. On the other hand, a mustard seed may be very small in size but it is complete. Life is ticking within it. If you put it in the ground, it will grow. Thus even if it is small, because of the potential it possesses, it could grow into an enormous shrub later on.

And so, let us not despise the Little seeds of Faith planted within us. And let us plant these little seeds of fate in others by our words and actions. Let time nourish them so that they could grow big someday.