Daily Reflection for Monday, July 27, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Monday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072720.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Jeremiah 13:1-11
Responsorial: Deuteronomy 32:18-21
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-35
Our reflection on Monday’s readings:
“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.” (Matthew 13:33)
I did not have to work hard to find a mental picture or image with this Gospel. The mustard seed and the yeast cells are powerful in their diminutive size. Small but mighty could be the phrase you hear today.
Nice to think of our faith in the same way. What starts as a tiny grain inside our soul grows continually as long as it is fed and watered.
I love to work with yeast and to make many different types of bread from cells of yeast. Remarkable that the finished product can taste so different simply by using a few different ingredients or by adding time so the dough is allowed to rise and then be punched down to rise again.
While not difficult to work with, yeast does require a specific approach and has narrow boundaries in which it is most active. In today’s Gospel, I see and hear God’s wisdom pouring through. He reminds me that His presence is sprinkled into the flour of my life and I may not easily notice it. How I care for these cells is important. If I overheat them, they will simply die and not bear life and my dough will remain flat. If I don’t give it enough warmth and a bit of sugar for energy, then the dough will also remain flat. Similar to times when I might not receive the spiritual nourishment I need for growth as a Child of God.
Preparation of the finished dough is also a work of art. Specific guidelines help to produce different sizes and shapes of rolls. Heating and baking techniques impact the crustiness or smoothness of the finish. God’s hands in my life result in my shape and texture continually being reformed and developed.
I have been intrigued by the call I have felt during this time of quarantine to experiment with making different types of bread. As I have spent time in reflection on this passage, I see a strong connection in my walk with God. I hear a call for me to keep working at my faith walk, too. To try new ways to raise up my spirit and allow myself to be molded into the “bread” that is needed to help feed the hunger of those around me. If I am uncomfortable or overheated at times, perhaps this is God’s way of letting me know that I am forgetting to let Him be in control. To let the yeast cells continue to add leaven to the batch of dough that is my faith life.
How are you experiencing the yeast cells in your faith walk?
In Heartfelt Joy,
Lynne Brennan