Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2025

Gospel

Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed

that a person took and sowed in a field.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,

yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

It becomes a large bush,

and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”

He spoke to them another parable.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast

that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.

He spoke to them only in parables,

to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

Reflection

In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to two seemingly small and ordinary things, a mustard seed and some yeast. At first I didn't see how they could be powerful. A mustard seed is tiny, and yeast is only a small portion of what makes up a loaf of bread. But what Jesus is revealing in these parables is how something seemingly small, can have a massive impact. The mustard seed, though tiny, once planted becomes a large bush brimming with life and home to several birds. And without the yeast the bread would never rise and become soft and fluffy but would remain flat and stiff. This is what God’s word, His presence, and His love can do if we let Him work in our lives. He softens the hardened places in our hearts and helps us grow to be more flexible, more open, and more alive. However, this growth can only come after planting; just as the dough must remain still for the yeast to work, we too must sit in quiet prayer with God letting His grace take root and rise within us. God does not ask for greatness but for willingness. He can transform the tiny mustard seed and insignificant yeast we give Him into something much greater.