Have you ever noticed that no one seems to notice the good things we do? Everyone is always so negative about everything. People are always angry, and negative, and can’t see the good things that are happening. I even think some people go out of their way to find the negative. And for those few of us who try to be positive it can be pretty discouraging. We try to make a difference but we just can’t see it. At least that’s what we think.

This last month has been an eye-opener for me. I have seen some changes in the people around me, especially some of my family members, that have made me feel like I’m making a difference. Whether it’s because of my prayers or just my own personal change, there have been things happening that I never thought would.

And once again, as so often happens, I was thinking about these changes and wondering why, when the Holy Spirit answered the question for me. This time it was in the daily gospel reading. It was from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13:18-19.

This is the parable of the mustard seed. I have never seen a mustard tree but they can grow to heights of up to 20 feet. I have seen mustard seeds though and they are pretty darn small. It makes you wonder how that little seed can grow into such a large tree.

Really any plant is the same. You put a tomato seed into the ground, water it, put some fertilizer on it and wait. You begin to think the stupid plant will never grow. Then one day you look in the pot or the garden and there is a little plant. As you continue to take care of it it becomes bigger and soon you will have some tomatoes. Your hard work pays off. You didn’t realize it until one day you were eating a tomato right off the vine.

It’s the same thing with spreading the Word of Jesus. You do little things hoping they will have some effect. You try to show how God has made a huge impact on your life but nothing seems to happen. Then one day you look in the garden and realize you have made a difference. The people around you, in my case some family members, have started doing good things, things you never expected. The kind of things that Jesus would do.

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Lk 13:18–19.