October 27, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus said, "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."
The Gospel of the Lord.


Use Mother Teresa, 1910-1998: in 1946 riding a train back to Calcutta from a retreat, was watching the slums and heard a voice commanding her to help the people in the slums of Calcutta. She exchanged her habit for a white sari with blue piping, started a school, in 1950, she had 12 followers, by 1998 when when she died the Missionaries of Mary had over 4000 in 12 countries and today over 5,000 in 123 countries. Mother Teresa is the mustard seed; inn 50 years she had spread her campaign throughout the world, Something Beautiful for God, the title of Mellencamp's autobiography of Mother Teresa. 3 measures of flour is 50# with kneading the while batch may be leavened

Lex orandi, lex credendi = the rule of prayer, the rule of belief.
the rule of prayer may establish the rule of faith
the way you pray and how you pray shows what you believe
pray as if it all depends upon God and work as if it all depends upon you
The rule of faith is the word received; the Liturgy is the word expressed.
Liturgy confirms and deepens faith.
what you exhibit externally reflects what you believe internally.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: if you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave.
Practice what you preach.
Laborare est orare: work is prayer.

The Word of God became a zygote, scarcely visible to the naked eye. He was born a helpless infant. His first visitors were not religious and state dignitaries but simple shepherds from the hillside. If the entry of the Word of God into human history was so humble and simple, it is not surprising that the Kingdom of God should also begin with the smallest and the most humble. The mustard seed is very tiny, but it grows into a mighty shrub. The pinch of yeast can raise three measures (about fifty pounds) of dough. To discern the Kingdom of God we need close vision, and action close to hand – not big theories and acrimonious talk.


At the time of Jesus, people expected that the messianic kingdom would be established with great fanfare and triumph. There would be a lot to see and hear.

The ego always looks for a big deal: this is its trademark. When you hear intense people talking big, with phrases like “I strongly believe,” or “I'm deeply convinced,” you can be pretty sure that they mean just the opposite. The strength of the conviction shows the strength of the doubt.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".

Percy Byshe Shelly