Today’s reflection is a little late because the pulla, the Finnish sweet bread, had to be done first. It’s a yeast cardamom braided loaf, full of butter and eggs and is better than its Swedish imitators. It’s what I always make before going to Connecticut to see my son and granddaughters. One of my earliest memories is seeing a bowl of raised pulla dough above the bowl on my grandmother’s old wood stove.
Bread, the staple food of life, is in short supply in places like Gaza because there is not enough flour, not to mention the yeast, salt, and oil, brought in for the baking. Breads of the Middle East may look flat, but they require yeast in order to be made.
Jesus once compared the kingdom of heaven to yeast, which has the power to make bread rise. Just a little bit is needed, much like the faith we need to have that we can make real and lasting change in this world. The yeast of faith added to flour kneaded with compassion, kindness, and mercy can, like bread, rise until it takes hold of the world around us. But we need the yeast.
Prayer for the Day
Feed us with the bread of righteousness, O God,
So we may more fully understand tour call;
Pour out the water of justice, O Source of Life,
So we may draw from the well and share it with others;
May we reflect your love in finding the lost and binding up the broken
Strengthening the weak and being the face of your love in the world
As was the One we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Like yeast, it’s impressive how considerably an ounce of determination can make one’s efforts grow and expand.
Richelle E. Goodrich, American writer from Making Wishes
Yeast. The word comes to us through Old English, from the Indo-European root 'yes'- meaning boil, foam, bubble. It does all those things, and more. And would it not be the Egyptians, who construct the largest, most sophisticated buildings in the land, to also harness the tiniest microbe?
Christa Parrish, American author, from Stones for Bread
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.
Matthew 13:33