Jesus teaches us that “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13: 31-32

Years ago Jesus gave me a little mustard seed and that mustard seed has grown in a way that I would never have anticipated. It has transformed me and changed my life and I want to tell you about it. It occurred about ten years ago. I learned that Jesus made a small, humble request to the world via a saint by the name of Faustina Kowalska, a nun in Cracow, Poland in October 1937. Jesus asked for something very small – you could equate this little request to the little mustard seed. He asked that His people remember Him every day at the time He died for us on the Cross, 3pm.

These were His words: “Jesus said, “At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion…immerse yourself in prayer there where you happen to be, if only for a very brief instant.” Diary of St. Faustina 1320, 157

Other than receiving the Sacraments and studying the Bible, praying at 3 o’clock while meditating on the Passion of Christ has been the single most important thing I have every done in my spiritual life.

Seeing Our Lord dying on the Cross each and every day at this solemn time has changed my heart, it has changed my priorities and it has changed my life.

The mustard seed like all seeds require 2 things for it to mature: 1. We need to plant it and 2. We need to nourish it. So in this case planting the mustard seed means remembering to stop at 3pm to remember that this is the time Our Lord died for us. The nourishment of the seed is the meditation on the Passion of Christ. If but for a few moments we need to enter into the agony of Our Lord and remember how much Jesus suffered to save us. We need to stand at the foot of the Cross in solemn awe of the greatness of His love.

All over the world there are people uniting in prayer at 3pm (in their respective time zones). We call 3 o’clock, the Hour of Mercy, because it is the time that Jesus paid the price of our sins and by uniting in prayer we become a powerful voice praying for the mercy of Our Lord upon all souls, praying for all of our needs. I want to encourage you if you are not doing this already to join in. You don’t need a lot of time to do this, but the mustard seed only bears fruit if we take action to plant it and nourish it.

Jesus teaches us in the Scriptures that “People can’t observe the coming of the kingdom of God. They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20

And that’s what I discovered, that the daily remembrance of the Passion of Christ at the moment He died for us creates a communion with Jesus that is so tender, so intimate and so strong that indeed the kingdom of God is born within our hearts as we realize how much He loves us and how much we love Him.

So please think about the little mustard seed, a small request from Our Lord Jesus that we remember Him each day at 3pm dying on the Cross for us with a prayer and a short meditation on His Passion. May the mercy of Our Holy Lord be upon us all! In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!