Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 13: 18-21

One of my font memories of growing up with parents and three elder brothers in a small village in India is about gardening. The elder brothers would bring plants to our garden from the neighbourhood, but the younger ones used to be so inquisitive to see if the plants were growing properly. Thus, we would pluck up the plant daily to check if it is taking roots or not! In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to the mustard seed planted in the garden. The seed of the Church was planted by Jesus and his apostles and then it was so tiny. The seed did not have an overnight growth. It took years to take roots and spread its branches. That needed patience. The apostles and the early Church were not worried about its future. They waited with patience and hope, because they knew the future was safe in the hands of the Lord. The seed of faith and the Church continues to grow. It is never stagnant. Let us wait to grow. We don’t need to be anxious as to how it goes, because otherwise it will never grow. St. Paul says in the first reading, “hope needs patience”. It is the patience of knowing that we sow, but it is God who gives growth”. Even when it appears insignificant because it is the smallest of seeds, and even despicable, inside it contains an overwhelming vitality. This vitality is activated only when it undergoes a process of death and decomposition. It only generates life if it dies. Let’s wait for it because, as Hope is like a tiny seed, we sow the grain and allow the earth to give growth. To talk about hope, Jesus, also uses the image of the yeast that a woman took and mixed in three portions of flour. Yeast needs to be mixed with and disappears in the flour just as the grain is buried under the soil. Yeast is the inner force capable of transforming the world and reversing its values. We contemplate the mysterious virtuality that yeast possesses. Its hidden and silent force is both active and contagious. Although not all the bread becomes yeast, all of it will take on the taste of the yeast. What today is a tiny grain will one day become a lush tree. It is strong if it has deep roots and a robust trunk capable of channelling the flow of life. As the Church is rooted on the rock of Christ and spreads its branches to be shelter to the people of God – our life in faith needs to be rooted in Christ, growing in virtues of hope in patience.