Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
REFLECTION
Our Lord is Risen! Happy Easter!
Have you ever tried to make bread starter? In weather like Houston's, it is a very difficult thing.
First, you add a little bit of whole wheat flour and water into a loosely closed jar. Then you have to leave it alone for about a day. Fermentation will start and you'll have to discard most of it, otherwise, it will overflow and start smelling bad. You need to add more flour and water and continue this process for another couple of days. Then it can go into the fridge, do some basic maintenance to keep discarding the excess, and at the same time feeding it. It is, like some chefs say, "a labor of love".
Our weather here is mostly hot and humid, which means that if you don't keep your eye on the starter it can quickly get moldy, or else the whole thing has to be discarded. Also, if you put it too soon in the fridge, it will stop growing.
Making sure external influences don't spoil the starter is essential. Just as heat/cold/humidity affect the yeast, imagine how much worldly temptations, the flesh, and the devil affect our spiritual life.
In the last 40 days, we with the whole Church have been walking with Jesus towards Calvary and then Easter. We worked in our spiritual bread starter and discarded the excess that wouldn't allow it to create good yeast.
Jesus paid our ransom so we can go to Heaven with Him. As undeserving as we, as I am, He still loved us and without hesitation went through horrible torture and a slow utterly painful death for us.
God in His mercy has given us the sacraments of healing and the Holy Eucharist to help us discard the things that hinder our spiritual "yeast", and to make our souls grow stronger.
Easter is here, and now is the time to "make bread". Would my yeast starter be good enough to make decent bread? Is it good, or just good enough? How will I serve our Lord and others from now on?
Wishing you a blessed Easter season and extraordinary growth in your spiritual life.
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