THE SMALLEST OF ALL SEEDS 

July 26, Monday

SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Cued by the Bible, in many languages “to worship (or adore) the golden calf” means to be inordinately after money and riches. In the Bible, it means to try to make oneself a god in the image of the human person, a god that one can control and use for one’s own ends, instead of a free, invisible God; also, making one’s own little gods out of created things. It can be power, prestige, authority, possessions, and in modern society, production, economic empires, science. Not that these things are bad in themselves; they become idols once they are no longer means toward a more humanized society but made into ends existing for their own purpose.

A tiny seed becomes a tree. At the beginning, when one hears it and accepts it, the Word of God is only a tiny seed, and when it is contested and contradicted, as it was in the early Church and is often again today, it looks insignificant, negligible. What is it, in comparison with the powerful media? But it is meant to grow and to become little by little a kingdom of love and justice that overcomes all contradiction and hatred.

 

First Reading: Exodus 32:15-24,30-34

Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets—engraved them.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, “That’s the sound of war in the camp!”

But Moses said,

Those aren’t songs of victory,
And those aren’t songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party.

And that’s what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

 Moses said to Aaron, “What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?”

Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’

 “So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewellery and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”

 

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-35

Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”

Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.”

All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:

I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open
    things hidden since the world’s first day.

 

Prayer 

Curb our impatience Lord,
when we try to impose
your truth and justice and peace
in a Church and a world
not yet disposed to welcome them.
In our powerlessness and discouragement
may we learn to accept
that all true growth comes from you.
We can only plant the tiny seed
and it is you who make it bloom into a mighty tree
that can give shelter to all who accept your word.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Our God of Abundance

Yesterday the Church observed the Day of Prayer for Grandparents and elderly. St. Joachim and St. Anne, grandparents of Jesus were venerated as the patrons saints of the grandparents. Today the Church celebrates the memoria of St. Joachim and St. Anne. The story of Joachim and Anne do not appear in the Bible, but in a book called the Protoevangelium of St. James, completed around the year 170. It gives insight into the life of Mary, Mother of Jesus and her parents. Today let us continue to pray for our grandparents and the elderly.

The parable of the mustard seed, reflected the irrepressible hope of Jesus in the future despite an unpromising present. Mathew wants to remind his Community that although the present state of the community might be unimpressive, like a tiny little grain, its future would be wonderful. The story sounds a bit strange because Jesus speaks of the mustard plant that grows into a tree so that the birds of the sky would dwell in its branches! It is indeed strange to find such a huge mustard plant! The birds of the sky in the bible referred to the pagans. Now Jesus is making a promise of an apparent impossibility: that the people of the pagan lands would come to this great tree of faith and will find their refuge in it.
The second parable about Three measures of flour is equivalent to fifteen-litre – It was clearly an extravagant amount: it would have made enough bread to feed more than a hundred hungry people.
The phrase three measures of flour has an exact reference to the Old Testament. When Abraham was visited by his Three Visitors, Abraham instructed his wife Sarah, to mix three measures of flour (along with a whole calf!) to feed his three visitors: The three visitors foretold again an apparent impossibility – that Sarah would soon be pregnant and they will have their child: Isaac,
The image of the three measures clearly spoke of two important messages:
First: There is nothing impossible for God. He calls the insignificant and chooses the improbable circumstances to establish his Kingdom and his Church
Second: He showers his blessings without measures – John speaks of miracles of abundance – six jars of wine to a family where they were celebrating a marriage; 12 baskets of bread left-over after feeding over five thousand people; super-catch of fish by the disciples who toiled without catching any all night and here the three measures of flour for baking – ours is a God who gives his blessings in abundance and extravagance!

 

Video available on Youtube: Our God of Abundance