I have many great memories from my youth, and today’s Gospel brought one to mind.
Jesus poses a great question: “What is the Kingdom of God like?” He goes on to say it is like a mustard seed that when fully grown becomes a place for the birds to dwell.
Or, the Kingdom of God is like yeast mixed with flour until the whole batch of dough is leavened.
My grandma raised nine children, and never learned how to bake or cook for a small crowd. Similarly, my own mother raised six of us and was always thinking about or working on the next meal. I recall each of them mixing bread dough on the kitchen counter, flour everywhere, then placing it in a clay mixing pot and placing a dish towel over it to rest and rise for baking. Seems Grandma always had flour on her somewhere!
Similarly, when I was in college seminary, I prepared a large batch of dough in the seminary kitchen for baking French Market doughnuts for our Mardi Gras celebration that evening. After covering the dough, I ran off to class giving it plenty of time to rise.
When I returned, the dough had spread across and down the counter extending practically to the floor! It was quite a sight. I also recall the doughnuts were a big hit that evening!
Friends, we are members of Christ’s body. Our life is in Christ, and his life dwells within us. St. Clement teaches us: “let our faith in him [God] be awakened; let us reflect that everything is close to him.”
As the tiny mustard seed or as yeast we share the Light and Life of Christ with others, allowing God’s Kingdom to spread bountifully in the world. Each of us is a beloved son or daughter of God, gifted sufficiently to fulfill his will in our lives.
Chiar Lubich put it like this in something she wrote in 1984:
We should remember that we are called to be witnesses of Christ. He wants to reach all men with His message of peace, of justice, of love, precisely through us. So let us be His witnesses wherever we find ourselves: in our family, at work, with friends, for reasons of study, and in all the different circumstances of life. Let us be witnesses through our reciprocal love, our unity, in such a way that the peace and pure joy which Jesus promised to whoever is united to Him, will already flood our souls now, and will overflow to others.
(Chiara Lubich, Word of Life July 1984)
Let us live the faith, and proclaim the truth in love! Thus, is the Kingdom of God spread throughout the world.
Peace!
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