Gospel (Lk 13,18-21) - At that time, Jesus said: «What is the kingdom of God like, and to what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his garden; it grew and became a tree and the birds of the sky came to make nests in its branches." And he said again: «To what can I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed in three measures of flour, until she was all leavened."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The two very short parables reported in this Gospel passage are better understood if read in the context of the first Christian communities who wondered if it was really possible to inaugurate the kingdom of God only with meekness and words, in a world that offered so much resistance to the Gospel. In truth, we too ask ourselves whether the Gospel is not too weak to change a world which, instead, seems to be so much stronger. Jesus responds to these ancient and contemporary objections with these two small parables, that of the mustard seed and the other of the yeast in the dough. As we know the kingdom of God is the heart of Jesus' preaching as the synoptics show us. On the one hand there is this world subjected to Satan. On the other hand there is the new kingdom, that of God, which Jesus came to inaugurate on earth. And here is the meaning of the two parables. The kingdom that Jesus came to inaugurate begins not in a powerful and sensational way, but as a small seed, like a handful of yeast. Of course, it is important that the seed penetrates the soil and that the yeast is mixed into the dough. Luke underlines in the parable the idea of development, of continuous growth. The seed - that is, the preaching of the Gospel and the practice of love - will produce a great tree and the yeast will ferment the dough of society and the world. Many will be able to refresh themselves in the shade of the tree of love and many will be able to feed themselves with the bread of mercy.