Word to the Wise
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - Tuesday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 8:18-25 and Luke 13:18-21]What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the 'birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.'" Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened." [Luke]
In the front yard of our residence here in Lubbock, TX, there is a huge oak tree whose branches extend a long way, and whose leaves this time of year begin to clog my flower beds! Its acorns also have a habit of traveling into those flower beds and sprouting! Those sprouts are hard to dig out, and if allowed to grow without interference they can become eventually like their parent nearby.
At least a couple of times a week, I add a couple of teaspoons of a tan dry powder to three cups of flour and in an hour the sticky mass has doubled! Jesus' images of the power of God's Kingdom can come to mind in interesting ways in our own time. In the time of the Gospel According to Luke, the Christian community was still small and under persecution of different kinds in different places, yet it was spreading. The images used by Jesus were incorporated by the evangelist, Luke, to encourage the efforts of the disciples to spread the Kingdom. Spectacular results will not be the ordinary rule. It is a person by person process, which is still true, at least from my pastoral experience. The RCIA programs speak eloquently of this.
Pope Francis has summoned all of us who are baptized to be "missionary disciples." We may not preach on street corners but we might preach when we reach out to someone in need with a helping hand, or accompany someone in their sorrow. Small gestures go a long way. The acorn or mustard seed can get very big and the yeast can lift a great mass. AMEN