This week we read three of Jesus’s most famous parables: the sower and the seed, the mustard seed, and the yeast in the three measures of flour.

What do all of these have in common? You might say they are stories about faith and how it grows and develops. This is correct, but they also have something else in common: the theme of patience.

The farmer who sows the seed has to wait until both the wheat and the weeds mature before he can begin to sort them out. If he uproots the plants too early, he risks destroying his crop along with the weeds. The mustard seed, which is miniscule, eventually becomes a huge bush. But patience is required for the seed to take root and reach maturity. Finally, the woman who kneads the yeast into the flour has to wait for the bread to rise before she can bake it.

In all three cases, it’s necessary to wait until you see the final result. You may know that there will be a crop of wheat, a large bush, and loaves of bread, but it takes time and patient waiting before you can see them. You have to trust in the process.

The same is often true with our desire to share the Faith. We want people to embrace the Gospel right away; we want an immediate, enthusiastic response to the Good News of salvation. It didn’t work like that in the time of Jesus, and it doesn’t today. Most of the time (there are always exceptions), we have to sow the seed or mix in the yeast—and then sit back and wait. No matter how much we might want to rush things, we need patience as we wait for faith to develop … from tiny seeds and grains of yeast.

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First Reading

You taught your people that those who are just must likewise be kind(Wisdom 12:13, 16-19).

This part of the Book of Wisdom is sometimes called the “book of human folly,” where the author discusses our human waywardness. These verses show us the greatness of God’s mercy in the face of our folly. We have a decided tendency toward idolatries of all kinds, acting as though other things are “god,” rather than founding our lives upon the one, true God. But he has so arranged the world that it teaches us of him and slowly corrects our misplaced adoration—whether it be directed toward money, power, or honors—to show us that he is the sovereign Lord of the world whose right due is our worship.

For many this is a lifelong process. In some cases, God gives us successes so that we will be moved by gratitude to thank him for his gifts. In others, he weans us from our false sense of security by depriving us of those things that gave us that false security. In all these things, God is acting as a gentle and patient Teacher who draws us along toward himself. So even when we find ourselves distraught over the loss of something, or even someone whom we found precious, we have “good ground for hope” that all of God’s lessons are intended for our good and to encourage the love we will share with him for all eternity.

Second Reading

The Spirit comes to aid us in our weakness (Romans 8:26-27).

God is so good! Not only does he enable us to enter into new life with him by a gratuitous gift of grace that we could not hope to merit on our own, but he also supplies everything that we may need on the journey upon which that grace directs us. Here St. Paul tells us that the presence of God in our souls that we receive by Baptism is not an inert presence that we are aware of and can gaze at, as if it were a kind of museum exhibit, but a dynamic presence, always at work in us. The Spirit that comes to dwell in our souls attends to us so closely that he aids to the extent of articulating our needs for us. Even when we don’t know what or how to pray to God for what we need, he will inspire in us the prayer he wants us to pray to him! He leaves nothing to chance. Just as a parent will fill in the blanks when a little child haltingly asks for things that he doesn't know the name for, so the Spirit helps us name our needs and intercedes for us. Those who live in the Spirit will find that they gain a new kind of articulateness in their mediation for others, too—the Spirit guiding them in their intercessory prayers for brothers and sisters in need.

Gospel Reading

Jesus proposes parables to the crowds, teaching them of the reign of God(Matthew 13:24-43 [24-30]).

In this Gospel passage we find corroboration of what we saw in the readings from previous Sundays, also from Matthew’s Gospel. At verse 34 of Matthew 13 we read, “He spoke to them only in parables.” The parables that Jesus tells function almost like medical heart monitors. When told, they register our state of heart, based upon how we respond to them. The weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, the yeast that leavens the whole batch of dough … these are figures that represent the mysteries of the Kingdom to those to whom they are addressed. To be able to “hear” them for what they tell us, we must have hearts that are open to the proclamation of that Kingdom. To hear them requires that we be open to the grace to do so.

And how do we gain this grace, the grace to hear? Matthew tells us that those to whom “it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:11; RSV: 2CE) are those who “went into the house.” This simple locution speaks volumes. At the beginning of chapter 13 Matthew reports, “The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.” He tells the parables that follow outside of this house and he explains their meaning inside the same house. The house of Jesus is the Church. If, having heard the proclamation of the Kingdom, we wish to know its secrets, we must enter the house of Jesus. Jesus is both the Word spoken in the world and the very interpretation of that Word. But to hear it fully, we must go and abide with him where he will reveal to little ones the secrets of his Kingdom.

MEDITATION:
Picture yourself in a kitchen. There is a large bowl of flour on the counter and a measure of yeast. Mix the yeast into the flour. Now imagine Jesus says to you, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.” What thought comes to mind? Is there a question you would like to ask Jesus about this? What does he say?

RESOLUTION:
Think of at least two ways you might be “yeast” for the Kingdom in your family or your work. How important is it to you to be that yeast?

Reprinted from  Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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