29 October 2024 - Tuesday of the 30th week of the even-numbered year
Homily
These two parables are part of a group of four found in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), even though each of the Evangelists has placed them differently in his narrative. The other two are those of the patient farmer who has placed his seed in the ground and waits for it to grow, and that of the weeds mixed with the good seed, and which will only be uprooted when the seed has reached its full growth. All four parables speak of the same reality, that is, the apparent failure of Jesus in his preaching, or at least the slowness with which the results of that preaching were manifested.
In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus wants to nourish faith in God, emphasizing the contrast between the humble beginnings of his reign and the dimensions of the eschatological reign to come. In this way, he probably wants to respond to those who contrasted the weakness of the means he used with the glory of the Kingdom of God that they expected.
With this parable, as with the parable of the leaven in the dough, Jesus calls us to patience - patience with ourselves as well as with our brothers and sisters in the face of the slowness of our growth and of their growth. He reminds us that accidents and failures, wounds and healings are all part of this growth process and give it its beauty. It is all part of our beauty as creatures. This is often difficult for us to accept - to accept that we are not perfect and especially that others are not perfect. To accept that nothing around us is really perfect, and that our whole life here on earth is a pilgrimage from our finitude to our perfect development reserved for the time of harvest.
Perfect harmony is not a dimension of creation, and therefore not a dimension of human existence, even if redeemed. The grandiose description of creation found in Genesis shows us a universe in which all the elements explode into existence: water, earth, sun, moon, animals, humans. Then begins a long journey towards harmony that will only be fully achieved at the Parousia. A process that will lead to definitive happiness, through a journey of cries, accidents, failures and wounds. This is the beauty of our created world.
In today's Gospel, Jesus grounds our hope in the certainty of the full growth of the seed that has been planted in us. He also invites us to accept the waiting in patience and trust.