“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from hence to yonder place,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17:20
Sitting here this morning, St. Therese of Lisieux shares her insights with me as Jesus watches and listens. She shares her thoughts on these words, this teaching of Jesus on littleness.
I know I fall often into the trap of thinking I must have more faith, begging God to increase my faith that I may be worthy. I desire to do big things for God, things that will resound in Heaven.
It is at this interrupting thought the Little Flower smiles and shares the words of Luke’s Gospel with me and of her Little Way.
“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:5-6
As always the ways of our Lord seems to contradict the ‘laws’ of the world. The world tells us that to become accomplished and be heard, we must be loud and large. The sports stars, movie stars and performers love being center stage – this is what the world says success is.
But, the Lord points our soul to the mustard seed. He says, this is what I want you to be like. He smiles as He looks at St. Therese and says, “a little flower isn’t lost in the field. She is just a fragrant and beautiful in the vast field as in the vase set at the middle of the table. This is her role in My Kingdom. She is no less beautiful.”
St. Therese blushes and smiles at Jesus, saying, “the glory of being a saint isn’t in being known by the world but of being known by our Father.”
The little mustard seed is no less important to the Kingdom than that of a mighty elm. You may overlook the tiny mustard seed but God does not. St. Therese continues, “our Lord humbled Himself to come to us (Philippians 2:5-11), the mightiest of redwoods became the smallest of mustard seeds to show us the simple way to His Kingdom. The least will be exalted (Luke 1:52).”
“It isn’t in great actions the humble saint greatly glorifies the Father, but in simple, “mustard seed” actions that we simplest of saints greatly and most glorify God. Picking up a pen and setting it in its place can greatly exalt God.”
Do the little things with great focus and dedication to God. Say a single ‘Hail Mary’ with most perfect devotion, put a pen away or do the dishes focused on giving God glory. The little things may not be so loud as the church bells, but the little chiming can bring great joy to the Father