He held up a mustard seed which can hardly be seen and said to us that the kingdom of God is like this tiny seed. There must be more to it than that and there is. Parables are divine parallels offering the soul the opportunity to dive deeply into the eternal life. The parables of the mustard seed and the leaven instruct us in the divine process of increasing in the life eternal.
Consider that for the seed to begin its process it must fall to the earth and be covered. Under the weight of the earth and with the aid of water and sunshine, the seed dies in order to sprout a simple green blade. Christ Himself is a Seed from the Father to descend to our earth not to live but born to die. But He needs to water the earth with His holy and eternal word. Hence the Word of God made flesh issues the words of eternal life in our hearts. If the soil is prepared by prayer, reparation and penance then the word, like the seed, breaks open and virtue begins to develop.
Once the blade or leaven enters the atmosphere the sunlight gives it the power to increase imperceptibly to the Christ-like soul. Everything in our environment feeds the soul with the presence of the omni-present Trinity. Our intellect hears and perceives the guidance of the Holy Words of Jesus and the light causes His presence to take over our human life with His divine Life. This seed in the intellect is called faith. This faith leads us to the total incorporation of self into Jesus.
It is much like the story told of a good Catholic priest who was imprisoned in Hungary but released. When he was walking the way home, he became thirsty. He saw a lad feeding the cattle and he asked him for a drink and the boy promptly responded with some cool water. Then a conversation followed about Jesus since Christmas was approaching. The boy told his sad story that he and his mother were abandoned by his father. They had to work to make a living and they would faithfully attend the Baptist church. When asked if he thought Jesus was God, the boy answered negatively. He said he could see the animals reproduce, people make other people and insects make other insects. Well, he said, if Jesus is God then He ought to make other Jesuses.
When the priest approached the Baptist minister and told him of the boy’s reasoning, the minister simply shrugged and said “He’s an idiot.” No, he was correct because each of us must let the seed of faith develop within us that we might become other Jesuses. It is very clear that we have to work at this transformation but it will come through the love of God’s word.
Now we have seen that the seed is a word; that is can be the Word made Flesh (Jesus); it can be our faith; it can be the work that we do that expresses our faith. The pattern is the same; the seed must fall to the earth and die for growth to take place. In the case of the leaven, it is kneaded into the flour that the whole batch of dough might rise. From the little we watch the increase. Is He increasing in your spiritual life? If He is united to you, then a deep devotion develops for His holy mother. Mary is the perfect Christian and we are the imperfect ones striving through the word and the work of God to transform the world around us.
It all ties together in the holy mass in which the Mother bears the Son through the words uttered by the priest, an alter Christus, in order that the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord may feed our eternal life. Hence the kingdom of God is within you developing like the mustard seed and the leaven. Growth is the sign of God’s love within us. Non progredi regredi est (Not to go forward is to go backward), there are no plateaus in the spiritual life. Keep your eyes fixed upon the divine Lamb and His death will be the means of our spiritual life.
In the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Voigt
Comments are closed.