When one observes the world today, one can ask, “Where is God?” Is God’s presence fading or prevailing? Look at the evildoers, they are so bold; people do not know what is right or what is wrong; there is no more sense of sin. “Where is God?”

The good news is that the Kingdom of God is likened by Jesus to the popular parable of the Mustard Seed. Three qualities of a mustard seed that is akin to the Kingdom of God:

1. It is small. In other words, acts of love, acts of forgiveness, and acts of generosity all start small. Not only is the impact already great but it also eventually becomes bigger and bigger.  
2. It can spread wildly and quickly. In the past two years, just how many inspiring stories have we heard of love, forgiveness, hope, and generosity? Good deeds are contagious. 
3. It can grow unusually large. Without us knowing, the kindness we have shown touches so many people’s lives. These people, in turn, also touch other people’s lives. Hence, even the smallest act of kindness and generosity has a huge impact on people of this generation and many generations thereafter. How beautiful is the imagery of a bird enjoying the trees. 

In this Mass, may we never lose hope. There are so many things that are not right, but we rely on three things: God is in control, man is innately good, and good will always prevail. If one wants concrete proof, Just look at the Catholic Church. It started with Jesus, then he chose 12 disciples with Peter as the first head. In other words, the very first pope. Now it has 1.3 billion Catholics. In 21 centuries it has gone through a lot and it is the most persecuted institution in history. Yet it is still here. We are still here. In other words, never underestimate the power of God.