Today is the final Mass for the parish elementary school. It is also a day when we have alumni present with us – graduates from the St. Francis Class of 2022 – who in just a few days will be the graduating high school class of 2026.
It is appropriate that our gospel is a very simple parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds come and even nest in its branches.” (Mt 13:31-32)
At first, this may not sound like a Gospel for the end of the academic year. We might expect a reading about achievement, success, or reaching a goal. But perhaps that we have exactly the right Gospel for today. Because if there is one lesson that this school year teaches us, and one lesson that our alumni can teach us, it is this: Look what God can do with a mustard seed.
To our elementary students: some days you may feel small. You may feel that your efforts don’t matter very much. Learning to read, practicing multiplication, studying for tests, learning to be kind, saying your prayers—these can seem like small things. But Jesus loves small beginnings.
The Kingdom of God often begins in ways that seem insignificant. A prayer whispered before bed. A kind word to a classmate. A lesson learned from a teacher. A moment of forgiveness. A simple act of service. Those are mustard seeds. And God does remarkable things with mustard seeds.
Today we are also blessed to welcome back alumni who graduated from this school four years ago and are now graduating from high school. I imagine that if we could travel back in time and see them sitting here as eighth graders, they would look very different from the young adults they have become. Four years ago, many of them were probably wondering what high school would be like. Some were excited. Some were nervous. Some probably could not imagine where they would be today. And yet here they are.
Not because they changed overnight. Not because growth happened in a single moment. But because God kept working, day after day, year after year. A mustard seed became something larger. And that is how God usually works.
We live in a world that celebrates big moments: championships, graduations, awards, acceptance letters, promotions. But God often works through ordinary days. The seed grows quietly underground long before anyone sees it. The same is true in our lives. Character is formed little by little. Faith grows little by little. Wisdom grows little by little. A life of discipleship is built one day at a time.
Many of the most important things you learned this year may never appear on a report card. You learned patience. You learned perseverance. You learned friendship. You learned how to recover from mistakes. You learned how to trust God a little more. These too are mustard seeds.
And Jesus tells us something else about the mustard tree. He says that it grows large enough for the birds of the sky to come and dwell in its branches. In other words, the seed doesn’t grow just for itself. It becomes a blessing for others. That is true for every one of us.
The goal of education is not simply to become successful. The goal is to become the kind of person who helps others flourish. Parents, teachers, and staff have spent this year planting seeds—not just of knowledge, but of faith, character, kindness, and hope. The prayer is that those seeds will continue to grow and someday provide shelter, encouragement, and blessing for many others.
So today, whether you are finishing kindergarten, eighth grade, high school, or another year of teaching and learning, remember this: God is not finished with you. There are seeds growing in your life right now that you cannot yet see. There are gifts within you that have not yet fully emerged. There are ways God will use you that you cannot yet imagine.
And when you look at our alumni, perhaps the younger students can see a glimpse of their own future. And when the alumni look back at these younger students, perhaps they can remember how much growth can happen when God is given time to work.
So as this school year comes to an end, let us thank God for every seed that has been planted, every lesson learned, every friendship formed, every prayer offered, and every act of kindness shared. And let us leave here today with confidence, trusting in the words of Jesus.
Look what God can do with a mustard seed. Imagine what he can do with a school full of them. Amen.
Image credit: created with ChatGPT | June 4, 2026 | “Jesus speaking to his disciples while in the near background in a middle eastern mustard plant/tree of a size spoken about in Matthew 31:31-32 in a style of a Russian icon painting”