Mt 13,31-35 – Monday of the XVII Week of Ordinary Time
«The Kingdom of heaven is similar to a mustard seed» and again «it is similar to yeast».
They are two very simple images that Jesus uses in today’s Gospel to tell us about the great dynamics of interiority and spiritual life. Both teach us two things that we tremendously need: the smallness of those who know how to trust and the patience of those who accept the gradualness of life.
We are used to thinking that what is great must begin in a great way. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us exactly the opposite. The Kingdom always begins with something small, almost insignificant. A seed that can be lost between your fingers, a handful of yeast that disappears into the mass of flour. Nevertheless precisely what seems irrelevant contains a force capable of transforming everything. Being small, however, does not mean belittling yourself or thinking you are worthless. True evangelical smallness is trust. It is the freedom of those who do not pretend to control everything because they know they are in the hands of Someone who takes care of them. A child is small not because he is worthless, but because he lives by relying on himself.
Yeast, on the other hand, teaches us patience. It works without making any noise, hidden inside the dough. It does not produce its effect immediately, but slowly transforms everything from the inside. This is how God’s grace very often works in our lives. We would like immediate changes, instant conversions, definitive answers. God, on the other hand, works through processes that need time. Having patience then means loving reality while respecting its times. It means believing that something can be growing even when we can’t see it yet. The greatest things in life often happen little by little, quietly, but inexorably.
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