Monday in the 17th Week of Ordinary Time, July 28, 2025

Matthew 13, 31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.” He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

The weekend was hard but I am continuing to feel a little stronger each day.  I did have some confusion late in the afternoon and faintness in the evening but not as much as previously.  Thank you for your prayers!

Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed to explain something of the kingdom of heaven.  He explains in a vivid and — to the Jews — astounding way in order to reveal that the kingdom of heaven was not going to be a victorious army of soldiers going forth to do battle with the Gentiles; it was not going to feature a restoration of the dynasty of David.  He uses the work of nature to describe it and does not issue a call to arms.  The people of the time struggle with this, as Matthew subsequently shows the Apostles doing when they ask Jesus to explain for them the parables that he had taught during the day.  His plain exposition did not satisfy them since it did not go along with what the Pharisees had taught them and their parents all their lives.  They simply took in his words and set them beside what they had been taught as children and waited for further elucidation.  Rather than showing their weakness in doing so, the strength of their faith truly shines: they did not fully understand, but they loved and trusted Jesus and continued to stake their destinies with his.

The real wonder of the parable lies in the fact that the birds of the air choose to gather in the branches of the mustard bush, which could grow to about a man’s height, eschewing the mighty cedars of Lebanon and even the olive trees of Galilee and Judah.  Jesus teaches that it was to this issue of the tiniest seeds that attracted the birds, that is, those searching for salvation.  Certainly their were greater trees in which they could be safer, but they chose the humbler mustard tree.  This is a sign of grace, that though the world is full of religions and philosophies and the false promises of the devil, those who yearn for the Way, the Truth, and the Life, come to the Holy Church and find refreshment there.  We can also see the mustard tree as Jesus himself, the Son of God who descends from heaven to be born of a humble Virgin in a stable and who grew up in the shadow of the false teachings of the world, offering not power but peace to all who came to him.