How big is a mustard seed? " It is the smallest of all the seeds on earth” Jesus said (Mk4:31). In reality a mustard seed is smaller than half the size of a sesame seed. Though small in size, it can grow up to a man-sized shrub that can provide shelter for birds in the hot dry Holy Land. A mustard seed will remain only a small seed if it is not sown. Once it is sown, it obtains nutrition from the earth and, subsequently, bears the fruit of its potentiality and usefulness.

Our faith in God can sometimes be as small as a mustard seed. It can, however, grow if we allow it be sown in the Word of God. If we listen and live by the Word, we can obtain the right kind of nutrition for our soul. Through the Eucharist, we can be nursed and enriched further to the fullness of becoming a functional member of Christ’s body, where we can reach out to those in need of Christ. Equally, a humble heart the size of a mustard seed can bring us, by outward simplicity and austerity of life, to receive and serve the least of our brothers and sisters.