Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, spoke in many parables, parables that illustrate easily the great mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. One of these parables is the very famous Parable of the Mustard Seed. As the reading from the Holy Gospel of Matthew above testifies, Jesus of Nazareth spoke a parable about a mustard seed, that began as the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the biggest of all trees in the whole garden. To some, this parable is bewildering in meaning, but to those who have faith, this parable perfectly illustrates the deep things of God that has been revealed to us who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The meaning has been revealed to us, because of our faith in Christ.

There are two meanings of the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and both are very important to know about, and both can be applied to our lives as disciples of Christ.

The first meaning is this: According to Saint Theophylact, an Eastern Orthodox Saint, the mustard seed in this parable represents the twelve apostles, who began only as a few men, as the smallest of all seeds, but they "soon encompassed the whole earth." Thus, the parable of the mustard seed shows the great growth of Christianity throughout 2000 years' worth of history. Although it began only with twelve Jews in Roman Judea, it has surpassed the Roman Empire, survived two world wars, endured great persecution in all of its existence, endured all the diseases that came about, and has kept to the true orthodox teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, and has resisted all false teaching of Jesus Christ, and it still became the world's most practiced religion. The absolute miracle of the growth of the Church, which by the way was severely persecuted in its first 300 years of existence, is a testimony to the great faithfulness God has for the salvation of all humanity. It started extremely small, but as one can see today, has become the biggest tree, that even entire nations and countries faithfully adhere to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and the Holy Apostles. 

The second meaning is this: the mustard seed stands for faith entering a person's soul. As one starts to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, they have a little faith, just like a mustard seed. This faith, even though it is small, causes an inward growth of virtue, just like the mustard seed growing. Eventually this person's faith would grow and grow to become deeper and more intimate, and the person's virtue grows accordingly as well. As they grow, soon enough the soul would become godlike, and can even receive Holy Angels, because of the person's initial faith in God, which then God gave them his most precious Grace, that they may become partakers of the divine nature. 

This is the great spiritual reality that Jesus Christ has communicated to us in the form of the parable of the mustard seed. Both of these meanings can be applied to our lives, the first meaning by reminding us how faithful God is to us, and how he will never leave us behind as orphans, and the second meaning as showing us how faith works, and how we become intimate with God. And Christ specifically told us this in the form of this parable, that we may easily understand it and easily be reminded of his wonderful message.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, faithfully adhere to the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and remain steadfast in the faith, for surely Christ our Lord will come again. Stay prepared, and keep watch, and keep these things in your hearts. Blessed Lent to all of you my brothers and sisters in Christ!