BIBLE STUDY #51
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
JULY 17, 2011

Reading 1 Wis 12:13, 16-19

There is no god besides you who have the care of all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.

The Word of the Lord

Reading II Rom 8:26-27

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.

The Word of the Lord


Gospel Mt 13:24-43

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him,
‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

He proposed another parable to them.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

He spoke to them another parable.
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sows them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

Last week we heard the parable of the sower. We have three parables this week, the first being the parable of the weeds and the wheat which follows immediately after last weeks parable.

A farmer sows wheat, but an enemy comes in and sows weeds, specifically darnel, a poisonous weed that initially looks like wheat. As the weeds and wheat grow, they do begin to look different, but they are so intertwined by now that by pulling up weeds, wheat will come with it. Both are allowed to grow until harvest, when the weeds and the wheat will be separated. The wheat will be put in the barns, but the weeds will be burned.

This is an amazing story because our first thought on seeing the weeds, like the slaves in the parable, is to uproot it, get it out, banish it. It’s not possible to uproot the weeds without hurting the wheat, so the householder tells his slaves to let them grow together.

There will always be wheat and weeds in our society, our church, our families, and ourselves. Every institution, organization, society, and person is a mixture of weeds and wheat. Letting the weeds and wheat grow together is a more thoughtful, patient approach. When we apply this idea to our institutions, organizations, and ourselves, what can we learn?

1. Don’t be judgmental – sometimes we can’t tell the difference between the weeds and wheat. While we look on certain people as weeds, who knows who looks at us the same way?
2. Sometimes there are things we just can’t change – we have to accept that.
3. There are times when we don’t even know how we can change things or even if we should. We need God’s inspiration to decide.
4. Anyone or anything can change – uprooting, banishing, and destroying denies that possibility.
5. All of us are a mixture of weeds and wheat. We would be much better off if we looked at the weeds in our life in order to change and the wheat in others lives as an inspiration.
6. As we heard last week and hear this week, our job (both as a church and individually) is to sow the seeds of faith and to nurture that faith in ourselves and others; let God take care of the rest.
7. Be patient – it takes time to grow from a seed to a plant and it takes time to grow from a person to a saint.

The next two parables contain the same message. The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, and like most seeds, looks innocuous. Yet it contains the possibility of life and, when planted and nurtured, can grow very large. Yeast was a symbol of corruption, so it may be referring to the sinners Jesus associates with; the kingdom is despised and rejected, but like yeast mixed with wheat, can grow very large. Both parables tell us that the kingdom starts out small and shaky, without much promise, but under God’s direction, will continue to grow. So it is with our faith. It starts small and grows. Someone planted the seed of faith in us and nourished our faith, and now we take over and try to grow in our faith. The more we nourish our faith, the more it grows.

The conclusion of today’s Gospel comes next. We have heard much about patience and tolerance, now we hear about future judgment. The Son of Man is the risen Jesus. He assumed the role of ruler and sower of seed at his Ascension. His territory is the world, not just the Church. The good seed are children of the kingdom, those who are faithful followers of Jesus (not necessarily all the members of the church). The children of the evil one are the ones who do evil and lead others to do evil. These people are both inside and outside the church. This is a reminder to us in the church that we can’t be totally assured of our salvation. While salvation is a free gift, we can misuse this gift and therefore forfeit the eternal life.

The harvest is a symbol of the last judgment, the end of the age, as Matthew calls it. Other terms for this time are the second coming of Jesus, the Eschaton, and the Parousia, all terms for the end of the world. When this time comes, the age of the Son of Man will end, and the age of the Father will begin. At that time, the Father will send out his angels (not Jesus) to separate the weeds from the wheat, the faithful ones from the evil-doers. These evil-doers will be thrown into the furnace, “where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” The faithful ones, the righteous, will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”, that is they will inherit eternal life.

As we live in the age of the Son of Man, we know that we are both weeds and wheat. Our goal is to nurture the seed of faith in ourselves and in others; in other words, we are called to repentance, to forgive and be forgiven. We are called to be Christ for each other and to see Christ in each other. A time will come, however, when God will judge us for what we have done in life. The time of repentance will conclude, and the time of judgment will begin.

We see a similar theme in the first reading from Wisdom. The author of this book is trying to encourage his fellow Jews to remain faithful to God while in the Diaspora (those Jews living outside Israel). He tells them how faithful God has been even when they turn away. God always offered forgiveness and a new beginning. The hope we have is because of God’s love for us and in never turning away from us.

Fr. Phil