Sunday, July 21, 2002
16th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Wis 12:13, 16-19
There is no other god besides you, one who cares for everyone, who could
ask you to justify your judgments; there is no other king or sovereign
who could confront you and support those you punish.
Your strength is the source of your justice and because you are the Lord
of all, you can be merciful to everyone.
To those who doubt your sovereign power you show your strength and you
confound the insolence of those who ignore it. But you, the Lord of strength,
judge with prudence and govern us with great patience, because you are
able to do anything at the time you want.
In this way you have taught your people that a righteous person must
love his human fellows; you have also given your people cause for hope
by prompting them to repent of their sin.
2nd Reading: Rom 8:26-27
Brothers and sisters, we are weak, but the Spirit comes to help us. How
to ask? And what shall we ask for? We do not know, but the spirit intercedes
for us without words, as if with groans. And He who sees inner secrets
knows the desires of the Spirit, for he asks for the holy ones what is
pleasing to God.
Gospel: Mt 13:24-43
Jesus
told the crowds another parable, "The kingdom of heaven can be compared
to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep,
his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.
When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.
Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: 'Sir, was it not
good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?'
He answered them: 'This is the work of an enemy.' They asked him: 'Do
you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' He told them: 'No, when you
pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them just
grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers:
Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather
the wheat into my barn."
Jesus put another parable before them, "The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field.
It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it has fully grown, it is
bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in
its branches."
He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like the
yeast which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour until the
whole mass of dough began to rise."
Jesus taught all this to the crowds by means of parables; he did not
say anything to them without using a parable. So what the Prophet had
said was fulfilled: I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept
secret since the beginning of the world.
Then he sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples
came to him saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the
field." Jesus answered them, "The one who sows the good seed
is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people
of the Kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy
who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of time and the workers
are the angels.
Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be
at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will
weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And
these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. If you have ears, then hear."
Commentary
Sometimes we lack the patience to bear the misgivings and imperfections
of others. We then wish for a perfect world with only good and just people
in it, where everyone and everything will live in peace and harmony with
God.
At times, we are even tempted to pray and ask God to punish and destroy
all the evildoers, that this world may be a world of justice. But God's
ways are not our ways.
If we were God, then we could have annihilated the world a long, long
time ago. Thanks to God's love and patience, the world still exists. God
gives time for people to realize the truth, that they may change and repent
and walk on the right path.
Who knows? God could be waiting for you to realize this.