Flinging the Word

17^th Week OT (M)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St Dominic Priory, NOLA

A mustard seed is tiny. So is a grain of yeast. Both contain a great deal of power. Mustard plants can grow to 9ft tall. And just a pinch of yeast can leaven a lot of flour. Jesus compares his Father's kingdom to these two petite powerhouses of nature, giving us a way to think about our preaching. If we think of our preaching as a means of intervening in the world, as a way of disrupting the spirits of the world, we end up in a fight. How much better would it be to sow the Word like mustard seed and watch the plants flourish where they land. Or dose the flat, unsalted flour of the world with the yeast of the Word and let it all come to life. If our preaching is a kind of sowing, then we aren't all that worried about neat rows, straight lines, or orderly patches. We reach in, grab a handful, and fling! Where the seeds and yeast land may be random or predestined. What matters is the soil. And that the soil is seeded. As preachers of the Word, our job is to give every kind of soil the chance to produce good fruit, to give every bit of flour the opportunity to rise. We do this by diligently and maybe even wildly flinging the Word wherever we go.

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