MONDAY, SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Jer 13: 1-11 Dt 32: 18-21 Mt 13: 31-35
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
There is something quietly powerful about small things. A tiny seed buried in the soil. A strip of linen wrapped around a prophet’s waist. Neither seems like much. Yet God chooses both to carry a larger message.
Jeremiah was asked to do something unusual. He was told to take a linen belt, wear it close to his body, and then hide it in the rocks near a river. When he returned after many days, the belt was ruined, spoiled and useless. God then explained the meaning. His people were meant to cling to him the way a belt clings to a person’s waist. They were meant to stay close, bound to him and belonging to him. But they walked away, and in doing so, they lost the very thing that gave them identity and purpose. This image stays with me. A belt is not worn to impress others. It is practical, personal and close to the body. God was not asking for public performances of faith. He was asking for daily faithfulness, a quiet willingness to remain nearby. That was exactly what they failed to do.
Then Jesus speaks of a mustard seed growing into something large enough to shelter birds, and of yeast working silently through an entire batch of dough. Both images point to the same truth. Transformation does not always announce itself. It often begins unnoticed and develops slowly when something small is simply allowed to do its work.
Put these readings together, and a clear picture emerges. When we stay close to his life begins to grow within us. Like the mustard seed and the yeast, his grace works steadily from the inside outward. The changes may seem small from day to day, but over time, they become impossible to miss. Character deepens. Faith matures. Love expands. What starts hidden eventually becomes visible. When we drift away, however, we become like the belt left among the rocks, losing our shape, our direction and our usefulness. We may continue outward routines, yet something essential is missing. The question today is not whether God is powerful enough to work in our lives.
Response: You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
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