The Parables on Mustard Seed and Yeast

In today’s Gospel reading the “mustard seed” and the “leaven” is the Word of God. Jesus is reminding us that we are called to be “leaven” in today’s world. As Christians, we are called to share the love of Jesus with every person we meet. And mind you there is a multitude of ways to be leaven in our world. It may be by sharing a smile, offering to help someone with their grocery, being a listening ear for a friend or family member who is struggling or spending some time with the seniors is your community.

We are also called to be that man who took the seed and threw it into his own garden which would consists of our family members, our colleagues, our friends and the various people we come in contact with. We should desire to see God use us to produce a harvest for Him in our garden.

The way to produce a crop is to sow the seed of the gospel, give Jesus to others. The Gospel tells us that the man threw the seed into his garden. Until he did that, the seed would not have sprouted and start growing.

We can go to a nursery, buy a package of seeds, take them home and set them on our table. The package print will tell you that the seeds will produce tomatoes within so many weeks. So you wait, but the time goes by and you don’t see any tomatoes. You go back to the nursery person and complain that the seeds didn’t produce any crop. The nursery person asks, “When did you plant them?” “Plant them? You mean I have to plant them?” There is no such thing as a seed that will produce a crop without being planted. Similarly, Jesus will not be known to others unless we talk about him.

Today Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom of God is in our midst! Today will you build up the Kingdom of God or will you ignore it? The question is will you be “leaven” in your corner of the world? Will you take the seed of faith you are blessed with and plant it? Only you can decide!