Holy mass: homily of October 26th – The mustard seed … or beans ?

 30th Tuesday of Ordinary Time 

Gospel; Luke 13,18-21

Luke preferred to assemble the parables which highlighted the behavior and the destiny of people in this world: the Parable of the Good Samaritan (10, 25-37); the Parable of the Rich Fool (12, 16-21); the Parable of the Prodigal Son (15, 11-32); the Parable of the Dishonest Manager (16, 1-13); and the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (16, 19-31). In this parable however, he speaks of the Kingdom of God hidden in the reality and in the behavior of the mustard seed which, proverbially small, becomes a robust bush; and the handful of yeast which ferments within a large quantity of flour.

The Kingdom of God is already at work in the world, but it acts in the style of Jesus: in poverty and with little political and religious consideration. God fulfills His plan with that which is small, despised and nothing (cf. 2Cor 2, 4ff). As the mustard seed, Jesus too was taken and thrown under the ground. In this way He became the tree of life offered to all. He was taken and hidden quickly, as something vile, on the eve of Passover (cf. Jn 19, 31-32). In this way he became the yeast which leavened the earth, opening up the tombs (cf. Mt 27, 52-53).

These parables help us to see and to understand the plan of God as He sees it. What happened to Jesus also happens to the Church and to every single Christian. The seed grows and produces life only if it dies (cf. Jn 12,24). While everything else that dies decomposes forever; the seed, dying, becomes a plant, a flour, fruit. Death cannot overcome it but fulfills it; it makes it what it is, life that overcomes death.

The seed is planted in the earth, the yeast is hidden in the flour. The effectiveness of the Kingdom of God is not human efficiency but the continuation of the story of Jesus humiliated, rejected and buried in the earth. Ostentation and greatness are opposed to the Kingdom and they ruin the Church and its mission in the world. The yeast which must leaven the mass of flour which is the world, is the wisdom of Christ crucified. The dough of the world must pass from the yeast of the Pharisees (cf. Lk 12,1) to that of Christ: through poverty, humility and humiliation. Otherwise we do nothing but hinder the work of God in history. On this earth the Kingdom is rendered present in the community of Jesus and those who belong to it. It is a small reality that must face the great task of evangelizing and saving the world, but the aggressive power of the yeast must not be lost, that is, the message of Christ must not be diluted. Those who have accepted the invitation of Christ and have taken on the task of leavening all of humanity, cannot remain segregated from the world. The Christian community does not always understand its role as yeast for the world; the awareness of this mission does not allow one to sit quietly in indolence but awakens and engages all one’s energies.

Jesus did not look upon humanity from a distance, He did not separate Himself from the society he turned to but He tried to leaven it from within. Christians turned in on themselves, either as individuals or as groups, centered on their own interests, even spiritual, are the negation of the spirit and the meaning of the parable of the yeast.

These parables were recalled in order to strengthen the hope and fidelity of those early Christians who remained surprised that coming and the Saviour bore no immediate results and that His Word had seemingly changed nothing. How could it be that this Word, if of God, does not convince everyone and is apparently ineffective? The parable explains the mystery: the Kingdom of God is already here, because the seed has been sown, all will be transformed, slowly, in secret and humility, but irresistibly … it is a small seed, but it carries great power.

I would like to awaken within us the same hope and trust with regard to our Congregation engaged in its reorganization: all may seem to proceed as before, but the seed has been sown. We are preparing the terrain (the reorganization) so that the good seed that the Spirit has given to the Congregation (the charism) might not be suffocated. We must however not only believe in the truth of the Word of the Cross, but more challenging yet, we must trust in its effectiveness. If we lack in this trust, all will crumble!

Our engagement in the process of reorganization must not be reduced to the simple preparation of the terrain so that it may bear fruit but we must also be concerned that the seed remain good. From the Second Vatican Council to our day, in all fields, from pastoral work to evangelization, from the renewal of the Liturgy to that of Religious Institutes, etc., it has been generally easier in the Church to study and choose structures and methodologies than to reflect on their content. The earth has been turned over often, as was necessary, but it was equally necessary to sow good seed. In the journey of reorganization we must avoid the error that one aspect overshadows another.

The time has come that we seek not only “how to say and how to do” but “what to say and what to do”. The seed is the Crucified and Risen Christ. In order to complete an authentic reorganization - as the Superior General has often reminded us throughout the process - it must be total, that is, including structures if necessary, but also renewing all of us with regard to the central values of the spiritual life, community life and apostolate according to the teachings of St. Paul of the Cross as present in the Constitutions, that is, to the essential values of our charism.

To conclude, the Memory of the Crucified Son of God is our leaven and our seed. But these appear to be small, weak, ineffective and scandalous. We are therefore constantly tempted to do something more spectacular, stronger and in keeping with the expectations of the times we live in … tempted to prefer … “the beans” which are fatter, hardier and tastier … however this is the law and the experience of the Church: if you plant beans, only beans will grow; if you sow the Word of the Cross, the Kingdom of God will be manifested!

Leone Masnata, cp