Gospel (Mt 13:31-35)

Another parable Jesus put before them, saying,

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Commentary

How clear are the examples that our Lord gives us! Clear and instructive, since when we understand things well our way of acting is significantly improved.

Today the liturgy offers us two examples of his pedagogical method: two short parables or metaphors to show us how grace acts in our soul. In reality, there are like two steps in the work God is carrying out.

First of all, the mustard seed. In reflecting on this parable, we can easily come to the conclusion that God is in no hurry, or that his way of viewing time is very different from ours.

We are used to measuring the effectiveness of our actions by the immediate results we obtain. This isn’t true for God. He is willing to wait and is patient, even when we are not docile and fail to take advantage of the graces he sends us.

The second image is the leaven in the dough. Here too we see the importance of ​​patience and perseverance. But also another quality that is just as important or even more so. Namely, that the leaven must reach every part of the dough: “till it was all leavened.”

This means that God’s grace, the good Christian spirit, must be present in all of our activities: work, family and social relationships and, of course, in our life of piety. Thus, if we are docile, God will be able to bring about his work of sanctification in our soul and also sanctify the environment around us.