INTRODUCTION
The readings today draw us closer to the mystery of the kingdom. The first reading and the Gospel are meant to widen our vision about the attitude of God towards the world and the created beings. He shows himself as a God rich in mercy and patience to those who do not live in conformity to his will, but then his mercy and patience cannot be wasted forever. Thus, there is consequence for every unrepentant sin. Extensively, it shows also that God often allows evil to exist not because He is weak or insensitive to its operation against the children of light. No! He allows evil to exist so that He will manifest his omnipotent dominance over it at the end of time. St. Paul sums the readings by gearing our focus towards the embrace of the Spirit of God that plays the role of interceding for us and leading us into full understanding of the hidden mysteries of God.
FIRST READING: WISDOM: 12:13, 16-19
Today’s first reading is part of the second half of Wisdom (11:2–19:22) reminding us of God’s tolerance and merciful patience. God is forbearing because He loves all that He has made (11:17-12:8) and because He is the sovereign master of His great power (12:9-22). The Book of Wisdom, written a century before Christ in Alexandria by a pious Jew, shows us a merciful and patient God rather than the strict, angry and judgmental God presented in the book of Genesis. Today’s passage tells us that God exercises leniency and clemency: “But though You are master of might, You judge with clemency, and with much lenience You govern us.” The emphasis on God’s forbearance underlies this reading. The God shown in this reading is so powerful and wise that He need not be vengeful and quick to punish. This God can afford to let His enemies live, for they can never prevail, and, given time, might repent. (Fr Anthony Kadavil).
SECOND READING: ROMANS 8:26-39
This famous passage of the letter of St Paul to the Romans shows how God is always present and willing to bring us relief in our time of need (v. 26)—that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (v. 28)—that, if God is for us, it really doesn’t matter who is against us (v. 31)—and that there is no power strong enough or circumstance dire enough to separate us from the love of God (vv. 35-39).
Today it advocates that the “…the Spirit also helps our weaknesses” since we cannot even help ourselves and unable to pray the way we ought to. The Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf (v. 26b). This is true because sometimes when we retire to pray, we do not know exactly what we want to say and what we want God to do. This is a type of prayer that easily end up in compiling an endless list of what we want God to do for us, as if prayer is all about asking. To such a Christian, prayer as a moment of praise does not exist because he always has long list of needs to present to God. Some other time, we find out that we are so overwhelmed that we don’t even know how to start. There are Christians who cannot lead prayers. Some of us always fall asleep when we want to pray or find ourselves distracted by other concerns. But Paul tells us to submit to the Spirit, our advocate. We must learn to allow the Spirit to lead the way, for that’s the only way to win God’s favors in prayers. How do we pray?
GOSPEL: MATTHEW 13:24-43
The Chapter 13 of the gospel of Matthew is simply a bank of parables. In it are recorded approximately seven parables that make allusion to the kingdom of heaven. This Chapter begins with the Parable of the Sower (13:1-9, 18-23) which accounts how some seeds will be lost, as well as how the seeds that accepted the good soil will produce bountiful harvest.
Today, we are presented with the Parable of the Weeds (13:24-30, 36-43) which makes use of the same agricultural setting and terminology why dealing with the age long problem of the existence of evil in the world. Jesus thus answers the question of the coexistence of good and evil as simply out of God’s permission so as to manifest his omnipotent dominance over evil at the end of time.
The two other Parables that make up our gospel periscope today are the parables of the Mustard Seed (13:31-32) and that of the Yeast (13:33) which demonstrate God’s promise of great effects from small causes. Matthew recorded this parable as an encouragement to the little community of Christians who were facing persecutions in the hands of the Romans and the Jews of their time. It came as a message of encouragement but also as a prophesy of the future of the Church, growing from minority to majority. Today, there is nothing like Roman empire again and Judaism is a minority in respect to Christianism which has become the world’s dominating religion. The two parables are equally meant to teach us never to be discouraged by small beginnings—and never to lose heart when our efforts seem hopeless, for God is capable of changing our situations and widening our horizon.
LET US GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field”: Notice that Matthew prefers kingdom of heaven to kingdom of God because of his sensitivity towards his audience who were predominantly Jewish converts. The Jews are often very reserved when pronouncing the name of God. They would prefer the name Adonai (Lord) instead of the tetragram, Elohim (God) in order to avoid any form of profanation.
“but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds”: The counter seed sowing by the enemy took place during the night. This goes a long way to explain why evil is always associated with darkness. The enemy strikes from the dark where he could not be easily detected. He sows where there is no light. The term weed shares same Hebrew root with the name “Satan”; depicting the concept of division. Jesus expressly says that Satan is also a “sower of weed”, the seed of division against the harmony that exists between individuals, families, nations and peoples. The cunny character of the enemy in the midst of good often makes it almost impossible for men to distinctly separate its seeds; but God, in the end, will be able to do so.
“But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also”: This parable pinpoints a concrete situational problem. Sometimes in our little communities of worship, we are confronted with different character of persons. We find the bad and the good. This has often generated a lot of tensions within the Christian communities. Unfortunately, it often appears that the bad ones dominate, and they operate pretentiously as if they are the righteous ones. This is exactly the tactics of the enemy. He is so subtle, and in his subtility he creates confusion. Strangely enough, those who cause scandals in the society are the supposed Christians, and who often occupy higher positions in the church (both lay and clergy). Their hypocrisy brings shame such that we always desire that they be eliminated from our midst. But Jesus makes it a challenge of faith today by calling for patience—patience with those who fail to meet the standard and faith. Unlike God, we do not have the faculty to weed the garden. As much as we desire to have a “pure” world, a world without sinners, Jesus says that it is only in the harvest time that a pure world will be possible. This call for patience may seem difficult to understand especially when people continue to glory and even progress in evil. But to those who posses the wisdom of God, it is God’s given opportunity for all. If God should act in a hurry to destroy anything evil, then no one will survive because no one is wholesomely pure. All men are sinner whether big sinner or little sinner. Thus, by strict criterium of elimination, no one merits to be left out. Everyone is a sinner living among sinners. If we demand too much, condemn too quickly, or break off from others too easily simply because of their weaknesses, then we may find ourselves also doomed and living in perpetual loneliness.
“and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn”: Jesus tells of a day of separation, a Judgment Day. He simply informs that God is taking account of the actions of men. He scrutinizes the hearts of men, and He alone knows their deeds. Those who persist in evil will certainly meet an eternal damnation, while those who persevere in good will reap happiness as reward. This paragraph is an addendum to Matthew’s great discourse on the last judgment elaborated in chapter 25, where he changes the metaphor to sheep and goats (25:31-46).
THE PARABLE EXPLAINED
“the field is the world”: Jesus identifies the field as the world. It is a field of seed sowing. God sows, and the devil sows too. It shows how the good has always struggled with evil, and how the kingdom of God has suffered violence right from the beginning. Jesus thus accounts for the presence of evil in our midst. This is felt on daily living. Those who profess faith in God live in hostile world. This hostility is not only seen and felt directly but it equally presents itself indirectly when the undeserving people have to prosper while the children of God suffer. This is a great challenge to the faith which has often left many believers at the verge of wondering if God truly cares. Thus, they question God’s justice. Nevertheless, the message of the parable is patience–patience because time will tell what will last and what will not last. Although the pressing force of the progress of evil often makes the virtue of patience appear as an illusion, but for those who will endure, the way it is now is not the way it will be.
“As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age”: Jesus tells the disciples that there will certainly be fire at the end of the age; in this case not a purifying fire but a consuming fire meant to eliminate the evildoers. Evildoers in this sense represent all those who rebel against God—those who practice immoral living—those who oppress the weak and marginalize the little ones of God. They will be cast into the furnace of fire where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. This passage tallies with the imagery of the “furnace of fire” in Daniel 3:6. It is a sure hope to those living in the world of constant friction with evil, those whose faith and daily attempt to live the will of God are challenged by the seeds of the devil that evil will never last forever; irrespective of how powerful and influential it may appear to be now, God who is the Eternal Good will not only rescue his people from its hold, He will equally subdue it under his authority forever.
“Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father”: In fact, this is the end result after the struggles of this life. Matthew makes allusion to the apocalyptic vision of Daniel 12:3: “Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever” to express the bright and wonderful destiny of the children of God. In this glorious vision, they will be freed from age long marginalization and predominance in the hand of the men of the underworld such that their days darkened by the corrupt world will now shine again like the sun.
LIFE MESSAGE
1. WE NEED TO AVOID BEING THE WEED
We are all sinners no doubt; and sometimes we sin not because we voluntarily desire it, but simply because of the circumstances of life surrounding us. But every time we sin, we gradually assume the character of the weed that chokes the presence of the Spirit of God in us. This is why it is dangerous to keep accumulating sins without going to confession. The more sins accumulate in our hearts, the more the devil find a fertile soil to sow the seed of unrepentance, thus creating in our minds the conviction that it does not matter. It is then that we begin to dread confession and to believe that after all we can simply close our doors and ask God for forgiveness or even settle with the stereotype that after all everyone does it, therefore am not the first. It is unfortunate that many Catholics are now living with protestant and Pentecostal mentality that God’s forgiveness can be sought within the comfort of ones home. I once had an encounter with a protestant brother who asked me: “Why do Catholics confess their sins to their fellow men?” My response was very simple. I quoted John 20:23 that expresses the conferment of authority to forgive sins to the Apostles by the risen Lord. Then in turn I asked him to show me where in the bible Jesus said we should ask God directly for forgiveness, but unfortunately till now he is still searching for it after two years.
2. WE NEED TO BE PATIENT WITH THE WEAK
The parable today tells us that God is not blind to the existence of evil and ‘evil men’ among us. I use the word ‘evil men’ not to judge but to highlight the attitudes that men exhibit sometimes. There are people who do not see anything good in others. There are those whose aims are to eliminate anything good, and they derive joy in doing it. They are happy when they cause pains to others. They are comfortable only where there is crisis and division. We all have one around us, and we may have experienced them directly or indirectly. They have even become part of our prayer petition of Holy Ghost Fire to consume them. But we may feel a little bit disappointed with Jesus who tells us today: “Allow the weeds to grow alongside with the wheat”. It means we must change our attitude towards prayer. We must always pray for God’s protection against every evil, but then we lack the faculty to demand for the elimination of the creatures of God. This may sound difficult, but let’s know that no one among us has ever experienced what Jesus experienced; and while still hanging on the cross he asked the Father to forgive his enemies; unrepentant enemies, who felt no remorse for their evil. We must learn to allow God to judge us and others as “weeds” or wheat: This parable was told so that we also might not go around judging others as “weeds” or wheat. Whether we accept it or not, judgment is the function of God the Father. There is no two ways about it. Let us pray for grace to be faithful and to thrive amidst the world of friction between good and evil. God allows evil to exist because He can turn it into good. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God can change even the ugliest thorn into a blossom of Faith.
PRAYER
Father your Word is our strength and consolation in this world of challenges. Open our minds and hearts to accept it and live by it even when we do not understand it or find it difficult to balance it with our daily experiences. Keep us always in your love. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
