Be small like mustard seed & yeast

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 28 July 2025
Monday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34     <*(((>< + ><)))*>     Matthew 13:31-35

Lord Jesus Christ,
let me be like the mustard seed,
"the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full grown
it is the largest of plants"
(Matthew 13:32);
let me be like yeast
"that a woman took
and mixed with three measures
of wheat flour until the whole batch
was leavened"
(Matthew 13:33);
let me be small,
dear Jesus
in this world where
the rule is to be big,
to be loud,
to be noticed.

Let me be small
silent,
and hidden,
 like the mustard seed
and the yeast
because life's fullness
lies in you, Jesus
who comes in emptiness
not fullness,
in darkness not klieg lights,
in silence not noise,
in poverty not wealth
and in simplicity
not popularity and fame;
true peace happens
only in your Kingdom, Jesus
not in the competing kingdoms
of the world.

When I look back in time,
I have realized how those
things I considered as small
and insignificant both
in my life and the world
were the things that have grown
into something that sustain
and shelter others,
of course with much faith,
hope and love in you!

Now I am older too,
I have realized the value
and benefits of bread
but bread cannot rise
 to become nourishing
 without the lowly yeast;
before I can become a bread
for others like you Jesus,
I need the grace to be
child-like,
to be little,
to decrease like the yeast
 so that you increase,
 Jesus.

Let me be small, 
hidden and silent,
Jesus, 
always patient
in waiting for you 
unlike the Israelites in Sinai
who made a golden calf when
they became impatient with Moses'
meeting with God atop the mountain; 
let me stop 
comparisons so I remain
little and humble in you,
Jesus who has become human
and small like us to stir
us to true greatness  
as beloved children
of the Father
to begin building
your kingdom.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)