29 October, 2013. Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week

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Rom 8: 18ff. We hope for what lies ahead, yet the object of our hopes is already within us, like a seed awaiting our full flowering as God’s children.

Lk 13:18ff. God’s reign is like a mustard seed planted in the garden, and like yeast that is kneaded into dough, to make it rise.

First Reading: Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Gospel: Luke 13:18-21

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

The yeast that leavens everyday life

Deep within our human nature is planted a seed that will grow in surprising ways; there is an inner “yeast” to transform us as in the dough that is baked into fresh bread, the staff of life. The whole created world eagerly awaits the revelation of what is already stirring within it, and of ourselves as children of God .

These texts of Romans sparkle in all directions with magnificent, exciting possibilities. They clearly state that every human being across the planet earth carries the seed of eternal life, the source of transformation into Jesus Christ, of hopes beyond understanding. We are reminded that all those millions of non-Christians throughout the world also carry within themselves the seed or image or hope of eternal life. The extraordinary goodness which we find among the pagan world of Buddhists or Hindus, or the strong monotheistic religion of Islam, represents and inward groaning for what is yet to be revealed.

If we seek our place in the reign of God, we must reverence the hidden mustard seed of divine possibility in our lives. We must be like the woman who so kneads the yeast into the dough that other people’s lives rise with freshness, life and dignity.

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