The Lord teaches us in the Gospel of the Mass1 that the Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it fermented all. Those who listened to the Lord's words knew well and were familiar with this phenomenon, for they had seen it many times in family ovens. A little of that yeast kept from the day before could transform a good batch of flour and turn it into a large loaf of bread.
In this likeness that the Lord presents to us, we must first consider how little yeast is in relation to the dough it must transform. Being such a small thing, its power is very great. This allows us to be bold in apostolate, because the strength of Christian leaven is not simply human: it is the same strength of the Holy Spirit acting in the Church. The Lord also counts on our smallness and weaknesses. "Is the leaven naturally better than the dough? No. But the yeast is the means by which the dough is made, becoming a wholesome and edible food.
Think, even if only roughly, of the effective action of the leaven, which is used to make bread, a basic, simple sustenance accessible to all. In many places – perhaps you have witnessed it – the preparation of the batch is a true ceremony, producing an excellent, tasty product that appeals to the eye.
They choose good flour; if possible, the best quality. They work the dough in the trough, to mix it with the leaven, in a long and patient labor. Then, a resting time, essential for the yeast to complete its mission, swelling the dough.
Meanwhile, the fire of the oven burns, animated by the wood that is consumed. And that dough, placed in the heat of the fire, produces that tender, fluffy, high-quality bread. An impossible result to achieve without the intervention of the small amount of yeast, which has dissolved, disappearing among the other elements in an efficient work that goes unnoticed"2. Without that little yeast, the dough would have remained useless, inedible, and inoperative. In our everyday life, we can be causes of light or darkness, joy or sadness, sources of peace or unrest, a dead weight that delays others’ progress or leaven that transforms the dough. Our passage through the earth is not indifferent; we bring others closer to Christ, enrich them or separate them from Him.
The Lord sends us to proclaim His message everywhere, to bring it, one by one, to those who do not know Him, as the first Christians did with their friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors. For this, we do not need to do strange and surprising things, because "seeing us as equals in all things, others will be invited to ask us: how do you explain your joy? Where do you get the strength to overcome selfishness and comfort? Who teaches you to live understanding, clean coexistence, and dedication, service to others?
It is then the moment to reveal to them the divine secret of Christian existence: to speak to them of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, of Mary. The moment to try to transmit, through our poor words, that madness of God's love which grace has poured into our hearts"3.
Are we leaven in the family, in the work or study environment? Do we manifest with our joy that Christ lives?
HCD