One Minute Reflection – 29 October – ‘It is Christ who grants such great strength to this yeast…’

One Minute Reflection – 29 October – Tuesday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 13:18-21

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.” … Luke 13:20

REFLECTION – “Our Lord next puts forward the parable of the yeast.   “Just as yeast communicates its invisible force to the whole lump of dough, so will the force of the Gospel transform the whole world, by means of the apostles’ ministry…   Don’t ask me: ‘What can we twelve, miserable sinners do in face of the whole world?’   This is precisely the vast difference between cause and effect, between a handful of men before a crowd, which will demonstrate the stunning effect of your strength.   Isn’t it by mixing the yeast into the dough, by ‘hiding’ it as the Gospel says, that it transforms the whole lump?   In the same way, apostles of mine, it is by being mixed into the great mass of peoples that you will impregnate them with your spirit and win victory over your adversaries.   Even as it disappears into the mass, yeast does not lose its strength.   To the contrary, it changes the whole dough’s nature.   In the same way, your preaching will change all peoples.   Therefore, be full of confidence”…

It is Christ who grants such great strength to this yeast…   So don’t blame Him for the small number of His disciples – it is the strength of the message that is great…   A spark is enough to change a few sticks of dry wood into a blaze that will afterwards set even all the green wood at the edge on fire.” … St John Chrysostom (c 345-407) Father & Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – True light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming by preparing the ways of justice and of peace.   Help us Lord, that we may sprout and bear fruit, fitting to grow and be a home of comfort to our neighbour. By the prayers of St Narcissus of Jerusalem, who bore the seed of Your Word to many, may we too be heralds of Your Kingdom.   Through Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.