Tuesday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time
Eph 5:21–33
Lk 13:18–21
“It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.”
When I read Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel about the Kingdom of God being like a tiny mustard seed or a little yeast mixed into flour, I am reminded of how easily I overlook the quiet, ordinary moments in my own life. The seed disappears into the soil, and the yeast is hidden in the flour. From the outside, it can look as though nothing much is happening.
In today’s first reading, St Paul speaks about something just as familiar and ordinary: marriage and human relationships. He invites us to see how our everyday relationships can reflect Christ’s love for the Church. In a world where it is easy to keep score, I find myself drawn to the idea of shifting the question from “What am I getting?” to “How am I loving?” Perhaps it is in the small, everyday acts of giving, listening and putting another person’s needs before my own that this love becomes most visible.
What strikes me about both readings is how much can happen beneath the surface, often without our noticing. It makes me realise that so many things in life begin small – be they good, bad or ugly.
A small act of kindness can grow into something beautiful. But a little resentment, left unattended, can also take root, feeding on our thoughts until it becomes bitterness. Growth happens gradually, choice by choice, whether we are building relationships up or allowing them to break down.
How easily I forget this. I get caught up in wanting to make big changes, sometimes expecting too much of myself and others all at once. Yet, when I look back, I realise that it is often the little things that make the greatest difference — biting my tongue when I am irritated, offering a genuine smile instead, remembering to send a word of encouragement to a lonely friend, or simply telling someone at home that he or she is loved.
These things may not seem particularly significant in the moment. They are easy to overlook, and sometimes I wonder whether they make much difference at all. But perhaps, like the yeast quietly working its way through the dough, their effects are not always immediately visible.
Brothers and sisters, the readings today also make me think about my own spiritual life, especially my impatience with myself. I sometimes wish I could pray more consistently, respond more lovingly, or become a little less caught up in my own worries overnight. But growth takes time. A seed does not become a tree in a day, and dough needs time to rise. Growth, as we know, does not always announce itself. Sometimes, it happens in the ordinary routines of family life, in the patience we try to offer when we are tired, the forgiveness we struggle to give, or the effort to treat one another with greater kindness and respect.
What comfort it is to be reminded that God is patient with me. I do not have to have everything figured out or get everything right before I turn to Him. Christ’s love is not a reward for having perfected myself; it is what sustains me as I keep trying, stumbling and beginning again.
Perhaps I can simply keep planting the little seeds and kneading in the little yeast, trusting that, in His time, God will bring about a growth far greater than I can see or imagine.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Jessica Letchamanan)
Prayer: Lord, give us the wisdom to guard our hearts against the small resentments that divide us, and the patience to trust the slow process of good growth. Help us to faithfully plant seeds of kindness, forgiveness, and prayer in our quiet moments, trusting that You will multiply them to reveal Your Kingdom. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, thank You for the beautiful gift of our relationships and for the reminder that You work powerfully in our smallest, most hidden moments. We thank You for the ultimate example of self-giving love found in Christ. Amen.
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