Saturday, July 26m, 2003

Sts. Joachim & Anne

1st Reading: Ex 24:3-8
Gospel: Mt 13:16-17

Jesus said, "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear it."

Commentary

The gospel reading today reminds us that God himself is patient with the ambiguities of the world. He himself is patient with the fact that not all persons are good, that not all are loving and kind and generous. He is patient with the fact each one of us experiences, like St. Paul, an occasional "thorn in the side," a sin or fault that we can't seem to get rid of, like the weeds planted on the fields of our hearts by some unknown enemy. The world is a mixture of good and bad, and so is each one of us. None of us is completely holy, or pure, or clean. We're human beings, like the field in the gospel reading, where good and bad seed are both planted, and where wheat and weeds grow side by side. But God is patient with us. He allows us to grow despite the ambiguity of our emotions, inclinations, and desires. Inspite of the fact that we often find it so hard to rid ourselves of our faults, we never lose that hope that in the end, all things work for the good of those who trust in God's goodness and mercy. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more," says St. Paul. If God is patient with us, so must we be with ourselves; if God can be patient with the world, so must we be with our neighbors.

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