Parable of the Mustard Seed size." The Parable of the Leaven (which in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke immediately follows) shares this theme of large growth from small beginnings. As with the Parable of the Sower, which in "Matthew" and "Mark" occurs earlier in the same chapter, the man sowing the seed represents Jesus, and the plant is the Kingdom of God. The nesting birds may refer to Old Testament texts which emphasize the universal reach of God's empire, such as Daniel 4:12. However, a real mustard plant is unlikely to attract nesting birds, so that "Jesus seems deliberately to emphasize the notion of
Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the times as they relate to the Good Samaritan Sisters and their schools, the congregation discerned that 2011 was the appropriate time to embrace a new and different future. In 2011, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan received approval to establish "Good Samaritan Education", a new entity within the Australian Catholic Church to oversee the canonical governance of the Congregation’s schools. Today, about 235 Good Samaritan Sisters live and minister throughout Australia and in Japan, the Philippines and Kiribati. They and the wider Good Samaritan family continue to seek God and to live out the injunction of the Good