“A few people of integrity can go a long way.”

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” - Mother Teresa

　

(Gospel Text: Lk 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."

In the gospel today, Jesus is revealing to us what the kingdom of God is like. It is something that begins rather small, it spreads and grows, infecting every part of the whole, and in the end draws others towards it.

The power to effect redemptive change in the world comes from the life of God within us. It is amazing how little leaven it takes to raise a loaf of bread. That is because within those little particles of yeast is found the power to ferment, to change the lump of wet dough into a loaf of aromatic, tasty, nourishing bread. However, the power contained within that yeast is not activated unless it is mixed and kneaded into the dough.

Once you work the leaven in, it is still hidden to the eye but how it transforms that loaf! So it is with Christians within human culture!

The power within us is the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead (See Romans 8:11)! All we are asked to do is to mix it up. We have to get in the loaf. We must be in the world - where Jesus is - in order to be used to accomplish His ongoing work of redemption.

We all must remember that leaven that is not used in time spoils and loses its capacity to ferment that dough; it must be active or it becomes useless.

　

That leaven must be in the dough to effect its extraordinary change. So it is with all of us. We must be "in the world" to effect its transformation. Once hidden in the loaf, leaven always raises the dough. It also takes human effort - it must be kneaded and worked into the loaf.

One person that truly lived this out was Mother Teresa. She was nothing special, but by allowing God’s love to take hold of her life, she was transformed and changed the lives of all those that met her. She said once, “We can do no great, things, only small things with great love.”

　

Like Mother Teresa and many other Catholics that came before her, we are called to live at the crossroads of the world, which the Church is a seed and sign.　

How can you share this small seed of love with others today?