Today Jesus continues to talk about the Kingdom of God. The image He uses in today’s Gospel is the image of seeds and how they grow. He tells His disciples the parable of the sower and the seed. We know the story well. The farmer scatters the seed and then patiently waits for it to sprout and grow. The farmer trusts that the seeds will do what is natural for them. He trusts that they will grow, mature and produce fruit.

He then gives His disciples another example of what the kingdom of heaven is like. This time Jesus uses the image of the mustard seed. He tells them that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. Yet when this tiny seed grows, it becomes one of the largest and most productive of all plants.

We are like the tiny mustard seed. We may think of ourselves as small or unable to make a difference in our world. Yet our small and seemingly puny efforts have the ability to produce abundant fruit. We have been given gifts and talents to share. To us, they may not seem like much. However, God will use us when we share ourselves and our gifts! The question is: will we?