When his followers asked Jesus to increase their faith, he told them the parable of the mustard seed. Though it was the smallest of seeds, once sown the mustard plant sprang up and spread rapidly.

It contains two short parables—about a mustard seed and yeast—and a long parable with an allegorical interpretation—about the wheat and the weeds.

Find today’s readings here. “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of ...