So the word of God is like this little leaven. Penetrating into human souls, the word of God here produces a great and holy process, similar to that which takes place in dough. Everything changes, everything is permeated like gas bubbles in dough, by the gracious influence of God's Word. Everything changes so profoundly in the soul, as in a dough. A person grows spiritually, rises like dough that boils.

You know that if you leave the dough in a cold place, the yeast will not produce its effect, the dough will not rise. It must be placed in a warm place, only then this amazing process will begin in it. It is the same in the human soul: only then does this amazing process of rebirth take place in a person, when the word of God is received with a warm, warm heart, a heart full of love.

That's when this amazing process begins, the process of rebirth of the soul. When a seed is sown in the ground, labor is needed to make it grow. The farmer or gardener takes on great care: he must manure the soil in which the seed is sown, water the ground, dig up the sprouts when they appear. Many, many worries are needed to grow seeds. Thus, we must take upon ourselves a great multitude of labors, so that the word of God may grow in us. It is impossible to place all hopes in the grace of God, to hope that the Lord Himself will grow, that He Himself will see to it that the plant that has grown from the seed does not wither, that frost and cold do not destroy it, that the thistles and thorns do not grow under the influence of worldly life and choke it.

And how often the word of God is heard penetrates into the human heart, but falls on stony ground, where the layer of earth is thin. And the roots of the seed cannot take root deeply, they remain weak and stunted: the plant withers and when the heat of the sun comes, it withers; if the winds blow, they destroy it. This is the case with all those who have received the word of God, but the cares of this world do not allow them to care about the growth of the seed. How many people abandon the care of the word of God and go over to worldly cares, and the word of God withers and its sprouts wither.

You see how important it is, how necessary it is to preserve the sprouts of the word of God. How tenderly one should take care of them, cherish them with all our might, try to make them grow. This is the goal of our life: we live in order to become sons of God, friends of God, in order to draw closer to God. This purpose will be fulfilled and achieved when we direct all our labors, all our efforts, all our attention to the growth in us of the holy seed of God's word.

Let it not be fruitless in your hearts! May you always be vigilant and carefully guard with all your strength the grace of God received from the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to give this grace, given to the elect who are able to draw near to God, God performed a wondrous deed: He gave us to drink His Blood, shed on the Cross of Golgotha. In order that we might grow as pure holy plants before God, the Son of God gave us His flesh.

You perceive this Body and Blood of Christ in the great Sacrament of Communion. Never approach the cup with a light heart. Approach with trembling, with great fear. Receive the Body and Blood of Christ and know that they will grow in your hearts great and holy seeds.

That spiritual enlightenment is usually gradual

December 18, 1946

He comes to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man to Him, and ask him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, he led him out of the village, and spitting on his eyes, laid his hands on him, and asked him, "Does he see anything?" He looked at him and said, "I see people passing by like trees." Then again he laid his hands on his eyes and told him to look. And he was healed and began to see everything clearly. And he sent him home, saying, Go not into the village, and tell no man in the village" (Mark 8:22-26).

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ heal the blind man not as He always did? Usually he healed him all at once, but this one gradually: first he partially restored his sight, and then, laying his hands on him again, he healed him completely.

We do not know why this is so, we cannot know all the thoughts of the Lord. We can only guess why. It is very possible that the Lord Jesus Christ, through this gradual healing, teaches that spiritual enlightenment cannot and does not be a sudden process, but a gradual one.

It is. We know that it is impossible to immediately become spiritually sighted, to become a saint, to become a righteous man. It is a process of gradual development that often lasts a lifetime. And it should last the whole life of a person and all mankind. Look: the revelation of God given to mankind did not come immediately.