“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…it is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.”

This is our faith. The Kingdom of God is us; it’s you. It’s all of the faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, loving and serving God and seeking to do His will.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us of something that we frequently forget, though: the Kingdom isn’t built upon big things. It isn’t always big, boisterous, and in your face. Often, the Kingdom becomes manifest in our world through small ways. Our Church began in a small way with only a handful of apostles and a small group of disciples living underground. But, through their faithfulness to the teaching, communal life, breaking of the bread, and prayer, they began to transform the world - making the Kingdom present in our world. The small mustard seed became the big tree. The leaven added to the wheat gives life to the bread, causing it to come alive and rise.

So often we get caught up thinking that seeking holiness and sanctity is a big deal. We think that it’s an impossible mountain to summit and that even if we try, we probably won’t reach the top. We look forward in life and have difficulty seeing ourselves as saints and holy men and women because we are only focused on the large plant that the seed becomes, or the leavened bread that comes out of the oven. But today, Jesus reminds us that all it takes is being faithful in small ways. We say yes today and the seed grows a little bit. We say yes tomorrow and it grows a little more. The more faithful we can be in little ways - praying, participating in sacramental life, growing in Christian community - the more we make the Kingdom present in our world.

​Let today be a chance to say yes in a small way. The more we say yes, the more the leaven rises, the more the seed grows, and the more we realize that holiness is possible. Let the Kingdom come alive in your life today.

Have you ever fallen into the trap of thinking that holiness was too big, too hard, or not attainable by you? Why did you reach that point? 

What small ways is Jesus asking you to say yes to Him today? 

How have you already seen the mustard seed of faith that led you to say yes grow into big things? Are you asking God to do that again?

"Yes, Lord."

"Come, Holy Spirit."

​"Give me faith."

Take a few minutes today to journal about ways that you've seen the Lord work in your life, even if it was a small thing as a result of a small act of faith on your part. Pray about it, then write them down so you can go back and read them in times of difficulty or doubt. 

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

​While my wife and I were dating, leading up to almost every special occasion for which she knew I had a surprise planned, there she was, begging for a hint of some sort. She found such joy in the element of mystery, and her joy multiplied as she got a foretaste of the outcome in store for her.

When I read the parables, I imagine the disciples with a similar level of enthusiasm, as if to say, “Come on Jesus, just one more tiny hint!” They have an idea of where they are journeying, but at the same time, they cannot even fathom the depths of joy that they are made for. As such, Jesus enters into relationship with them, and little by little, He reveals the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. The parables in today’s Gospel follow suit.

Reading today’s Gospel, I especially appreciate how Jesus’ parables maintain a certain element of mystery. Although He uses these stories and images to put the Kingdom of Heaven into language that we can understand and relate to on some level, He doesn’t give it all away. We are still left with the element of surprise, as we know that the Heaven to which we are ordered is a place we want to be—a place we were made for— even though a true vision of eternal life cannot even begin to be grasped.

This element of mystery makes it possible for the Lord to speak to us on an individual level through the parables. We hear and internalize like a group of children gathered at story time—all receiving various messages, depending on the perspective we bring. 

Today, my perspective felt a little overwhelmed as I read the three, rapid-fire parables that make up the bulk of this Gospel passage. Nonetheless, after taking time to reread and dwell slowly on every word, a question jumped out at me: am I the pearl or the merchant? Resting on this question for a while, I felt a little voice say, “Maybe I am both.” 

Taking these words to heart, I began to see this whole passage in a new way: I am both the one seeking the treasure as well as the treasure itself. On one level, I am on a journey to find myself, a feat which can only be arrived at by a true and total self-offering. As I make this offering, when I think I’m finding myself, I am actually finding the One in whose image I am made.

It is only after the merchant and the seeker sell all that they have, that they are able to uncover the treasure that they seek. It is only after looking completely beyond the self’s attachments that they plummet deep within, discovering a true illumination of the self. It is only after practicing this true and total abandonment and offering that one can come to know the heart that made ours beat. 

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

​Do you look forward to heaven? What do you think it will be like? Do you view life as a journey towards heaven?

What do you hear the Lord speaking to you, individually, in today's parables? 

What treasure are you seeking? Earthly treasures, or the treasures of the Lord? How would you react to finding such a treasure?

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure."

"You are worth everything, Lord."

"I praise you, Lord."

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

Seek the treasure of the kingdom of heaven in all that you do today, in your interactions with others, in your prayer, in the Eucharist.

​“I have come to know that you are the Christ…” For a long time in my spiritual journey, I thought I had “arrived.” I thought I had everything totally figured out. I knew God completely and was sure about everything I knew about Him and about myself. Sure there was maybe some more things for me to learn here and there about the details and all that stuff, but I was convinced that I had an experience with God and that experience meant that I knew Him completely and believed in Him completely. 

After some hard learned lessons and life experience, I realized that I was incredibly immature and arrogant and just wrong. Christ is not someone who we can ever pin down. He is ever elusive. He is infinite, thus always beyond the grasp of our attempts to confine Him. Just when we think we have figured Him out or boxed Him in, He proceeds to obliterate our boxes and pre-conceived notions. And thank God He does. 

I love this line from Martha, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ…” It was not one particular moment, one “conversion” experience that turned things around for her. It was a journey. Her relationship with Christ is something she had to grow into like a new pair of hiking boots. She had to come to believe, she didn’t just “believe” and understand it all in an instant.

In our world of efficiency and productivity and immediate gratification, sometimes we can allow our cultural concepts pervade our spiritual life. “If I’m going to give my life to Jesus, then I’m just going to make the decision and do it right now and boom then everything will change and I will know Him completely and all temptations will cease and I will live in happiness and peace.” Yet this is not the reality of life with Him. We want the quick fix. But our God is not a God of the quick fix. He is a God of the Infinite - time means nothing to Him - so He is in no rush and He is certainly not interested in quick fixes. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Sprint and you will burn out.

Even after Martha proclaimed this finish line of her journey, “I have come to believe,” she still screwed up. She still had to continue to come to believe. Even when she thought she had “arrived,” she hadn’t. Maybe you and I haven’t either.

So, if you have reached a breaking point in your faith and are frustrated as to why you are not making progress in your spiritual life and why all of your sin and weaknesses and problems haven’t disappeared yet and why you haven’t “figured out” God (as if that was ever possible anyways), take a deep breath and relax and sit back and enjoy the journey that is life with Him and coming to believe in Him and coming to believe in His love for you. He’s in no rush, so neither should you be.

When did you first encounter Jesus? What was that like? How has your relationship changed since then? 

Who is Jesus? How would you describe Him? 

​How can you come to know Him more? 

"I have come to believe." 

"You are the Christ."

​"I want to know you." 

Today, try to go to adoration. Look at Jesus and let Him look at you. Ask our Lord to help you know Him more. 

I have never really liked this Gospel. As a perfectionist, it just feels like a judgement. You see, I am not always the good soil. If I’m being honest, the reality is that I can be every one of these soils, sometimes all in the span of one day. And really, I think that’s true of all of us: Sometimes we hear what God is saying, but we don’t fully grasp it and adhere to it, and our own sinfulness robs us quickly of the resolutions we made. Sometimes we are living our faith with joy and determination, but something shakes us and our weaknesses are exposed. Other times, our own anxiety over life chokes out the joy of the Gospel in us. And then, sometimes, we are rich soil that receives what God is speaking with joy, and it takes root in us and bears fruit for the world.

So, when Jesus lists an explanation of all of these different types of soil and what they represent, if you’re anything like me, it just feels like a lot of added pressure to be perfect. I feel like Jesus is standing there telling me to work harder and strive more so that I become the “good soil” – and I just get discouraged.

But very recently I heard a homily on this Gospel that changed my perspective completely. The priest said that this Gospel is actually not about the soil at all – it’s about the farmer. Let me explain: You see, we could focus on whether or not the soil was good enough to give growth to the seed, and on all of the ways the bad soil isn’t like the good soil, and we could size up our own faith and judge ourselves with it. But when we focus only on the soil, we miss a very important detail about the sower in the parable that Jesus is referencing: The seed fell on all of those different types of ground because the sower did not take any time at all – not one single second – to consider whether or not the soil was good enough. He just continued scattering the seed, indiscriminately.

God is the farmer in this story; he is the one sowing the seed. And Jesus wants us to hear this: The point of this parable is not whether we are good soil; the point of this parable is that God is a very bad farmer. He does not waste time deciding whether we are good enough to receive his love. He loves us indiscriminately, foolishly, wastefully, with a blatant disregard for whether or not we are worthy of it. He doesn’t wait until we are good soil; he just continues to sow his love in our hearts in every moment.

Jesus is not calling us to hear this parable and be scandalized by our own imperfections. No; He is calling us to hear this parable, receive His love, and then learn to follow His example and love the world indiscriminately. 

Have you ever thought of this parable in that way before? That God loves us, loves you, so much that He would sow the seed on all those types of soil. Why do you think He does that?

How can you work to be more consistently "good soil" without letting it overwhelm you?

​What type of soil are you most like today? What are some small steps you can make to be more receptive to God today?

"How He loves us."

"God is love."

​"Make me like the rich soil Lord."

Receive God's love today. Even if you are not as rich of a soil as you would like to be, God is still offering you His love. That love can help you become a better soil, so let Him transform your heart instead of trying to be perfect first.