MUSTARD SEED AND YEAST

October 26, Tuesday

Thirtieth Week In Ordinary Time

 

      Creation itself, says St. Paul, is to be liberated and redeemed together with the people living in it. As they become freer, people will use God’s creation and technical progress not to destroy but to build up and to serve, to liberate more and more everyone and everything.

      The kingdom of God must grow among us, like a seed growing into a tree, like flour transformed into bread by the yeast. But growth means change and going ahead, marching forward, and this cannot happen without change and saying goodbye to the past and even to the present, to walk forward in hope toward the future. This brings the pain of separation, of giving up something familiar, but also the joy of knowing that we are on the way with the Lord.

 

First Reading: Romans 8:18-25

That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

 

Gospel: Luke 13:18-21

Then he said, “How can I picture God’s kingdom for you? What kind of story can I use? It’s like a pine nut that a man plants in his front yard. It grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches, and eagles build nests in it.”

He tried again. “How can I picture God’s kingdom? It’s like yeast that a woman works into enough dough for three loaves of bread—and waits while the dough rises.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
you call us away from the certainties
of the familiar present
on a pilgrimage with your Son
toward a future of hope and joy
even though we do not see it now.
Do not allow us to remain installed
in our own mediocrity.
Let our farewell to the present
not be marked with sadness.
Fill us with trust in him who guides us to you,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Rooted in Christ to spread the wings
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.

Video available on Youtube: Rooted in Christ to spread the wings