SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43

(Rev. Dr. Francis Perry Azah)

In the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom, we hear that God governs with great lenience. When we repent of our sins, God always forgives us. The Book of Wisdom speaks of the Lord as the absolute standard and reference point of all human judgments and criteria. The Lord is all-powerful, merciful, and just. God’s merciful restraint of his power and justice teaches us to act in the same way to others and to hope for the forgiveness of our own sins. St. Paul speaks of the Spirit of God within us. The Spirit shares our “groaning” (v.23) and directs us to God when we are lost or confused.

In the Gospel Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, Jesus reveals to us the mystery of the Kingdom, which is compared to a person who planted wheat, and while asleep, some enemies came and sowed weeds. These weeds look very much like wheat as they grow. St. Matthew’s Gospel explains two important ideas in images. One is how we are to understand the present times: God lets both good and evil advance in human hearts, since we are free to respond in this life. Good and evil seem so closely connected that any premature separation would prejudice the harvest. It may also be that it is only with time that the darnel weed (a small plant, difficult to distinguish from wheat) of evil can be easily distinguished and separated.

A time will come when a sharp division is imposed, the good to be confirmed forever, and the evil to be destroyed. Good and evil are not meant as abstract terms, but refer to the produce of each human heart. The other major point concerns how God’s presence works in our lives and in the world. God’s action in our lives is discreet but real, moving us to understand and to want what God wants for us: the true fulfillment of our lives. If we respond actively to this action, we begin growing as Christians. If we are faithful, we will achieve a capacity and fruitfulness far beyond our initial expectations.

What is the kingdom of Heaven that Jesus speaks about? The Kingdom Jesus reveals to us must not be understood as a place up in the sky. Rather, this Kingdom is a state of being in which God rules and God's values prevail. In many ways, Jesus lived and taught about these values. In the parable, Jesus powerfully communicates these values: forgiveness, compassion, justice, solidarity, and inclusiveness toward all human beings whom God has created in his image and likeness. That is why the kingdom of heaven is compared to a farmer who sowed good seed, and while asleep an enemy sowed weeds.

The image of the farmer leaving both the wheat and the weeds to grow up together till harvest is the key to understanding how God deals with us. Jesus challenges us to be like his Father: patient, lenient and tolerant with sinners, letting the wheat continue to grow among the weeds until the harvest. Who knows, the sinner may be touched by God's grace and repent? Who knows, between now and harvest time, the non-believer might be led to the fullness of the truth in ways known to God alone.

The Kingdom of God therefore is always a mixed bag of those in communion with God, and those who are not; those who have remained faithful and those led astray by the evil one. It is tragic that oftentimes we deal with this ‘mixed-bag’ situation by judging others while justifying ourselves. Like the farmer in the Gospel, we must leave judgment to God till the end. We must leave all to grow side by side till harvest time. The parable also reminds us that we must be as tolerant as our heavenly Father, who is always forgiving. We celebrate God's mercy by leaving it to God to do the judging at the end of time.