TUESDAY HOMILY: Dough and Divine Development

10/30/2012

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must be patient. Very often in the spiritual life God is doing something we can't see.

The seed grows underground to start with. The yeast is hidden in the dough--working away in an unseen way. Likewise, the Spirit is most often at work in our lives when we are not aware of it. God is present in the difficult times completing his work in us. The Holy Spirit often does his most effective work behind the scenes--in that moment of doubt and fear; in that time of grief and loss; in that series of trials that we think will unmake us. That is when God is busily at work making our faith and trust in him stronger than ever.

Finally, we must remember that the finished dough looks nothing like the powdered yeast. The great tree looks nothing like the little mustard seed. Likewise the final product of God's work within us is something far greater than we can imagine. As St Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, God is working far greater things within us and for us than we can ever ask or think. He prays that we might be "strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." This is not doctrinal development, but the development of the divine within us!

Here is the ultimate meaning of the gospel: that the Holy Spirit himself is the yeast and we are the dough, and as the dough is totally transformed, so we are to be totally transformed into Christ--who is, lest we forget it--also the Bread of Life.

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Fr Dwight Longenecker is the Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, South Carolina. His latest book, Catholicism Pure and Simple. Visit his blog Standing on My Head and sign up for his free, weekly newsletter here.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: faith, mustard seed, dough, yeast, parables of the kingdom, faith, Fr Dwight Longenecker

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Bro.Noble jose
6 months ago
Good reflection.
Paul-Emile Leray
6 months ago
Excellent! A joy to read.
Paul-Emile Leray

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