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This past Sunday, for the first time in a long time, I attempted to introduce a group of 3-to-6-year-old children to the parable of the leaven (Matthew 13: 33). I say “attempted” because it did not go particularly well. Or, I suppose, it went about as well as you can expect it to go when three measures of flour, one teaspoon of yeast, a half-cup of water, and ten pre-school boys are involved. Much of the conversation went something like this:
Me reading: “The Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with…”
Boy 1: “Can we eat the dough?”
Me: “No.”
Boy 2: “What does it taste like?”
Me: “Not that good. All of our hands have been in it.”
Boy 3: “Can we eat it?”
Me: “Boy 1, what is that in your mouth?”
We all left the space an hour later coated in a fine layer of white dust. Me pondering my sanity. Them pondering lunch. But hopefully all of us pondering just a bit more deeply the mystery of the Kingdom of God. The greatest point of fascination for the boys seems to have been the moment of “hiding” the yeast within the flour. A teaspoon of yeast goes in, a quick stir, and it seems to have disappeared. But what a difference it makes! Changing not only the size of the dough, but its texture, its smell, everything about it. The Kingdom of God is like that leaven.
I do not know where their pondering the last couple days has taken them, but for me, I find myself continuing to think about a line from the 1930’s politician Bruce Barton: “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things. I am tempted to think there are no little things.” Over and over again my time as a catechist has reinforced for me that great things happen in the smallest of places, the smallest of people, the smallest of gestures. God has a preferential option for the small, for the hidden. Most of what is really going on in the world is not the attention-grabbing headline from the news but everyday people leavening the world with their everyday actions.
For your own reflection this week, I’d love to introduce you to three amazing people who in their own ordinary ministries with ordinary people are doing the best they can to be leaven within their setting. They are some of my final interviews from the Waking Up Goliath podcast series.
- Fr. John Thomas Lane, SSS is the Provincial Superior for a small congregation of men founded by St. Peter Julian Eymard called the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. He is also the pastor of St. Paschal Babylon in Highland Heights, OH. When I talked to him he was for some reason having to personally sign 2000 thank you notes related to the parish school walkathon. A great example of engagement in the smallest of tasks.
- Fr. Jeffery Ott, OP is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, sometimes referred to as the Mother Church of African American Catholics in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Although it is across the street from where Martin Luther King, Jr. preached, much of Jeffery’s day is spent dealing with parking shortages and building renovations and coordinating staff efforts while needing to rush home to also care for fellow Dominican community needs. Under great pressure, he always tries to attend to the little things that matter.
- Mary Mirrione is the national director of the U.S. Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It is a growing organization with 5000+ members, but Mary makes sure to spend a little time each week with toddlers in the local parish community. In our last conversation she told me how much 18 month olds enjoy the parable of the leaven, preparing bread each week. I do it once every decade. She does it once a week. I think we should mention this when we fill out her canonization paperwork.
Anyway, enjoy these short episodes amidst your daily work this week! I am off to Madison, Indiana tomorrow to enjoy being with 65 elementary and high school principals / heads of school from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. They tell me Madison is a quaint, small town right on the Kentucky border, across the river from the thriving metropolis of Milton. Sounds like God’s kind of small place where great things could happen, and probably already are.
PS – As we are on the theme of great things coming in small packages, I want to point you this week to an extensive overstock sale that Ave Maria Press is having right now where you can get some pretty fabulous books at a very small cost, including some of my favorite complicated coloring books from Daniel Mitsui. I enjoy these occasionally myself when I am trying to calm my brain down after doing things like making dough with three-year-olds. I think they will work well for you, too.
(Photo Credit: Nadya Spetnitskaya )