Bill Nicholls
When I was a kid, I had a friend who was subjected to a lot of negative influences in their life. Although they had been born into a large, good Catholic family and welcomed with a lot of love, the culture of the times caused several members of this family to run wild, make poor choices and get into a lot of trouble.
It was a cycle that continued in subsequent generations and despite showing plenty of promise early on, by the time this individual was a teenager, it appeared that they might follow suit and perpetuate the pattern established by circumstances beyond their control. A number of the neighbors shook their head and wrote the child off as a lost cause.
“It’s such a shame,” they whispered. “That kid had all kinds of potential. I thought they might be the one who would break the mold.”
It didn’t happen overnight of course, but that’s exactly what occurred. Despite all of the weeds in this individual’s life, they still grew, thrived and bloomed into one of the finest people I have ever met. Somehow the sun penetrated the dense forest of parasites threatening to thwart their solid foundation. Somehow the rain got to their roots and the fertilizer encouraged their development. The weeds grew as well, but it wasn’t enough to kill their spirit of survival.
At the end of the growing season, it was obvious that this individual was the most beautiful flower in the garden, but it sure didn’t start out that way. Still, we had to wait and see what God had planned and how this person would transcend what seemed like a forgone conclusion. In some ways, the person is even more remarkable because they transcended their circumstance and even those who didn’t know them from “before” recognize that they are something special –however, they can’t put their finger on why.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus emphasizes how important it is to “wait and see” what God can do with those who are negatively influenced by the weeds in their life. Although it is tempting to rip up all of the vegetation and start over, sometimes you have to trust that the seed is good and that the external nutrients they need will reach them and help them flourish. They won’t have it easy and they will have to fight for every drop of rain, every ray of light and every ounce of fertilizer, but in the end, the struggle will be worth it. And when God sees how they triumphed over the weeds in the garden of good and evil, He will rejoice in their resilience and gather them into his barn with the rest of His bountiful harvest.
Today’s readings for Mass: JER 7:1-11; PS 84: 3, 4,5-6 AB and 8A,11; MT 13: 24-30
