A Reflection for Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
He spoke to them another parable.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.
I have fond memories from when I was a young girl enthusiastically asking my father to lay on my bed and tell me stories to help me fall asleep. I still remember many of those stories today, and they often had meaningful life lessons woven into them (although I am not sure I fully appreciated those lessons back then). Today, my children love to hear stories from me and other relatives.
The power of stories fosters connections, preserves cultures and has captivated humans since the beginning of time. To me, that is one of the reasons why today’s Gospel is so powerful—Jesus teaches all of us using two short yet impactful stories.
The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast remind us that something so small can produce something so great. Christ’s descriptions remind us that God’s graces work in ways far beyond our imagination, especially in a world in which we often rely on (and maybe even yearn for) immediate gratification. If we take time to reflect, we can see that small acts of kindness, cries for social justice and a simple prayer during a busy day can all blossom into a deeper relationship with God just as the mustard seed grew so that birds could dwell in its branches.
As we know, yeast is necessary to leaven bread, yet it is a small and hidden ingredient. God’s love for each of us is similarly undeniable even when expressed in small, largely unseen or uncelebrated ways. Evidence of God’s mercy can be seen in the way we support someone who is struggling, or pray for someone who is in a spiritual drought, or come together in communities—large and small—to offer practical, emotional and spiritual aid. While grandiose stories like miracles are dramatic, so are the hidden works of God if we trust in Him and look closely to find His presence in so many aspects of our world.
Today, can each of us look at the stories of our lives and identify mustard seeds that we are planting in God’s kingdom? Are you also opening your heart and mind to invite God to knead the yeast of goodness in all that we do? If so, share those stories with others so that God’s goodness continues to be sown and shared more among us all.
