488 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XIII. Christ,He proceeds to explainthe progressof the Gospel under certainsimilitudes,as it follows,Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? It is likea grain of Matt.17,mustard seed,fyc. AMBROSE. In another place,a grain of I9- mustard seed is introducedwhere it is compared to faith. If then the mustard seed isthe kingdom of God, and faith isas the grainof mustard seed; faithistrulythe kingdom Luke17,of heaven,which iswithinus. A grain of mustard seed is indeeda mean and triflingthing,but as soon as itiscrushed, itpours forthitspower. And faithat firstseems simple,but when itis buffetedby adversity,pours forththe graceof its virtue.The martyrs are grainsof mustard seed. They have about them the sweet odour of faith,but it ishidden. Per secutioncomes ; they are smittenby the sword ; and to the farthestboundariesof thewhole world theyhave scatteredthe seedsof theirmartyrdom. The Lord Himself alsoisa grain of mustard seed; He wished to be bruisedthat we might see 2Cor.2,l5.that we are a sweetsavourof Christ. He wishesto be sown as a grain of mustard seed, which when a man takes he puts itintohisgarden. For Christwas taken and buried in a garden,where also he rose again and became a tree,as it follows,And it waxed into a great tree. For our Lord is a grainwhen He is buried in the earth,a treewhen He is liftedup intothe heaven. He is alsoa tree overshadowing the world,as itfollows,And thefowls of the airrestedin his branches; that is,the heavenly powers and they whoever (fortheirspiritualdeeds)have been thought worthy to fly forth. Peter isa branch,Paul isa branch,intowhose arms, by certainhidden ways of disputation,we who were afaroff now fly,having taken up the wings of the virtues. Sow then Christin thy garden ; a garden is trulya place fullof flowers,wherein the graceof thy work may blossom,and the manifold odour of thy differentvirtuesbe breathed forth. "Wherever isthe fruitof the seed,thereisChrist.CYRIL. Or else;The kingdom of God is the Gospel,through which we gainthe power of reigningwithChrist.As then the mustard seed is surpassedin sizeby the seedsof otherherbs,yet so increasesas to become the shelterof many birds; so also the life-givingdoctrinewas at firstin the possessiononly of a few,but afterwardsspreaditselfabroad.