From The American Bible Society:
July 17, 2011
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
LET THEM BOTH GROW TOGETHER…
Matthew 13:24-43 (Good News Translation)
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. 25 One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. 27 The man's servants came to him and said, “Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?” 28 “It was some enemy who did this,” he answered. “Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?” they asked him. 29 “No,” he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. 30 Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn. ’ ” 31 Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches. ” 33 Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.” 34 Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable. 35 He did this to make come true what the prophet had said,
“I will use parables when I speak to them;
I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world.” 36 When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, “Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.” 37 Jesus answered, “The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; 39 and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: 41 the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, 42 and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth. 43 Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!
Other Readings: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27;
Lectio
If we were to sum up the content of this Sunday, we could do so with a simple word: patience. In our society, haste, immediateness, are to a large extent the two traits which describe our approach to any problem, situation or difficulty. Everything must be done at once:. We have ‘fast-food’, ‘fast-lanes‘, ‘ready-made’ goods, ‘no-delay delivery.’ Unfortunately, that approach also influences the way in which we consider and pass judgement on events, problems and even people. Today’s readings insist, on the contrary, on the ability to take things in a more ‘relaxed’ way. The parable of the weeds and the good seed, explained once again by Jesus himself, provides us with a good example. Our natural trend, like that of the servants in it, is to act at once. Someone else’s mistakes must receive a negative sentence, prompt correction, and punishment without delay. Much too easily we become prosecutors, judges and executioners. The first reading, we must remember, describes God as the one who gives humans ‘every opportunity to give up their sinful ways’ (Wisdom 12:19). He allows wheat and weeds ‘to grow together until harvest’, setting an example of patience and confidence in our ability to repent and change our sinful way of life. Besides that attitude of mercy and compassion from God that we should show towards others, there is still another kind of patience. The two shorter parables included in the passage from Matthew’s Gospel provide us with a humble approach to the development and growth of God’s Kingdom. When we see how slowly and how poorly that Kingdom advances; when we consider the shortcomings, faults and sins in ourselves individually and in the Church as such; when we feel tempted to give up every commitment to our community and even to our own faith… it is then that we must remember the two tiny realities with which Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven. A mustard seed and a portion of yeast, being so small, do not have weighty importance by themselves. In fact, yeast must dissolve in the dough, and the seed must ‘die’ in order to be transformed into a loaf of bread to feed humans, or a tree in which birds may nest. It is honest and legitimate to desire our churches to grow, develop and become mighty realities in our world. Actually, we are accustomed to a Church that, at a given time, was the ‘Great Christendom’ of the West. It is hard for us to accept a secular society in which our witness to the Gospel seems irrelevant, misunderstood, and almost invisible. But it is through humility, without recurring to worldly might or material resources, that we can make the Kingdom grow in fidelity to Jesus’ words. That is the kind of patience we must pray for; not only tolerance and mercy for others, but also towards ourselves and towards our efforts to become more and more faithful to the Lord.
Meditatio
Consider ‘the weeds and the wheat’ in the field of your life. Are your sure you can see the difference between them? Try to remember some event in your life which, though negative at first sight, turned out to be a real blessing from God. What are your mustard seeds and yeast in your life? Try to find the values of the Kingdom existing in you. How can you make them grow, and shelter the distressed around you? Or make it ‘rise’ and transform your social ‘dough’?
Oratio
Pray that the Spirit of God, not your immediate needs or problems, may be the source and soul that inspires your prayers. Pray to attain the docility and obedience to the Spirit that can make you able to pray for what you and others really need.
Contemplatio
Read once again 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. When we feel that the Kingdom is not as strong or firm as we would like, it is important to remember that God’s action, hidden and silent, is the real source of our strength.
Reflections written by Revd. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain
© 2010 American Bible Society.
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