Jeremiah 13:1-11 / Matthew 13:31-35
Our dressing has a significance in our lives. There are some who dress to impress and there are some who dress for success.
But by and large, our dressing has two purposes. We dress to show our respect for others and for the occasion that we are attending.
We also dress for modesty and for our dignity. Because sloppy dressing says a lot about the attitude and the character of a person.
Yes we care a lot about our dressing. But not that much attention will be given to our internal dressing or our undergarments. Even saying it is rather awkward.
Yet that was the topic of concern in the 1st reading. But what God told Jeremiah to do with the loincloth had a deep spiritual significance.
And the point was so stark that not much is left to the imagination. As the Lord said: For just as a loincloth clings to a man's waist, so I had intended the whole House of Judah to cling to me, to be my people, my glory, my honour and my boast. But they have not listened.
Not much more needs to be said from what the message of the humble loincloth had already given. So even the internal dressing has a hidden significance.
The parables that Jesus told in the gospel passage also pointed out the hidden significance of the mustard seed and the yeast.
For the mustard seed to grow into a tree, it must have deep roots; for the flour to rise the yeast must spread all through it.
For us to grow in the spiritual life and to rise in virtue, we must cling to intimately to God. Otherwise our external appearance will have no significance at all.