A homily for the sixth Sunday after Epiphany

​+ Parables are parabolic, and the parables of the mustard seed and of the leaven in today’s Holy Gospel are no exception. They teach something, certainly, but by their very nature they do more: they invite us into that teaching, as it were, to contemplate further its meaning and riches in the light which God the Holy Ghost gives to those who seek it.  
 
In respect of the Kingdom of God, it is clear that these parables teach the smallness and hiddenness of its origins. This is true historically: the simple preaching of Christ, working like leaven on a small group of people in an outpost of the Roman Empire, has changed the world. That which was planted in this small beginning – the one true Church of God Himself – has given shelter to countless generations since, ourselves included.
 
So too, over the centuries there have been insignificant beginnings – such as St Benedict retreating from the world as a young student and seeking the solitude of a hermit – which have led, almost imperceptibly at first through the action of the yeast of God’s grace over time, to the establishment of movements and institutions within the Church that provide many with shelter, and indeed with the context in which they can work out their salvation. We dare to pray that our own small monastic beginning here in Brignoles shall do likewise, howsoever modestly.
 
And the same can be true in the life of faith of any baptised person. The growth of the Kingdom of God in our hearts and souls has small beginnings. Growth may be slow – measured in decades rather than years, months or days – but it is true growth. Great holiness is rarely a directly infused gift. Rather, it is ordinarily the fruit of hard-won perseverance and growth over a lifetime.
 
Through the kindness of some benefactors our monastery grounds now have many newly planted trees. Their branches are not yet ready to shelter the birds of the air. They are not yet bearing fruit. But the day shall come when they shall. For the substantial growth that is required we must be patient – with trees and with ourselves.
 
So too, for a seed to grow into a tree we need good soil and appropriate nourishment. At times pruning shall be necessary. Protection from predators is required, especially at the beginning. A lack of any of these things – in a garden or in our souls – can lead to damage and disease.
 
Christ Himself gave us all that we need to avoid this danger, or indeed to heal and repair any damage or disease that is suffered, in the sacraments. The Kingdom of God will not grow in us if it is not nourished by fidelity to prayer each day and by increasingly fruitful participation in the public worship of the Church, most especially the Sacrifice of the Mass and the regular and worthy reception of Holy Communion. The damage caused by the tempests of this world will not be repaired, and the diseases caused by sin will not be healed, if we do not have regular recourse to the Sacrament of Confession.
 
The Kingdom of God grows within us almost imperceptibly through the action of the yeast that is God the Holy Ghost only if it finds fertile soil that is regularly weeded and well nourished. The parables of today’s Holy Gospel demand that I examine myself and ensure that without delay I do what is necessary so that God’s Kingdom can continue its mysterious growth in me; so that God can make of me what in His Providence He wills. What do I need to put in place to facilitate this growth? What obstacles do I need to remove? For the grace clearly to know, and resolutely to do, what is necessary at this point in my life on earth, let us pray earnestly in this Holy Mass. +

---