Romans 8:18-25 / Luke 13:18-21
We know what a watermelon is. We have eaten it before and there are those seeds that we dig out.
Each of those seeds is a wonder in itself. Each has the capacity to grow to 200,000 times or more of its size and become yet another watermelon.
We may not be that familiar with mustard seeds or with yeast and dough, but certainly the watermelon seed and the watermelon will give us an adequate picture of what Jesus was talking about in gospel.
In the two parables which is about the kingdom of God, Jesus talked about a growth that is beyond imagining.
Yet the 1st reading tells us that growth is not without struggle or suffering.
We and the whole of creation is "groaning" and we strive to grow and to be set free from the slavery of sin and decadence.
Yes, we yearn to live in the freedom and the glory as children of God, and as such, we have to accept struggle and suffering as part of the process in our growth to freedom.
At the same time we must also remember that the suffering in this life can never be compared to the glory that is awaiting us.
So in faith and in hope, let us persevere and persist, because God will reward us for our faithfulness. And that reward is for eternity.