Daily Reflections

October 25, 2011
The Unwanted Mustard Plant


I have seen mustard plants in Israel and Turkey and was surprised because they are not trees but shrubs. Mustard is an annual plant. Its height can range from 30 to 100 centimeters, its branches soft. Mustard is an aggressive weed that easily infests wide areas. Cultivation of land contaminated by mustard is often impossible since wild mustard seed germinates at about the same time as annual crops are planted. No farmer or owner of a garden wants a mustard shrub nearby. Also, birds do not nest in its branches but flock to the shrubs to feast on the seeds and so contribute to the rapid spreading of the plant.

According to Jesus, that’s what the Kingdom of God is like — an overpowering shrub with dangerous take-over potentials, a plant nobody wants.

What is Jesus telling here? Most interpreters focus on the smallness of the seed and its end product — a big tree. But we just said that this cannot be the point because His listeners knew very well the mustard shrubs.

I think Jesus is trying to tell us here about the fate of the Kingdom of God: Many don’t want it, especially not its high ethical demands. Yet it will spread fast and nobody can control its fast growth. Remember the first centuries of Christianity? How many Roman emperors have tried to eradicate Christianity but failed? In the end their pagan religion was totally overpowered and destroyed by Christ’s teaching.

And today? We are again in a time when many don’t like the values Christianity preaches. In some Western countries, Christianity is seemingly dying. But in Africa and Latin America, Christianity continues to grow. Neither materialism nor secularism, so rampant in the West, can stop Christianity from spreading. We should not be discouraged b y c e r t a i n n e w s about the Church in the West or lesser religious and priestly vocations or declining Mass attendees in the Philippines. Nothing can stop the Kingdom of God. Why not contribute more to its growth? Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

Reflection Question:

What can I do to help the Church grow? What can I contribute to the spreading of the Gospel?


Lord, news about a decline of Your Church worries me. But Your short parable gives me hope. Help me to contribute more the spread of the Gospel and of Your Kingdom.

St. Daria, pray for us.