16th
Ordinary Sunday (Year A)
First Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Second Reading: Romans 8:26-27 Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:24-43
“LORD,
YOU ARE GOOD AND FORGIVING.”
There
is the story of a young lady who was a bright student. Unfortunately,
she did not have assurance. Her name was Marian. She was working her
way through college by cleaning dorm rooms of her fellow students.
She was often annoyed by their in ability to say “Thank you”
or “Please.” One day she got so disgusted and
disillusioned that she was ready to quit. She went to see her
professor Robert Coles. At the time she was full of “anxiety and
anger.” She said, “I've been talking all of these
philosophy courses and we talk about what's true, what's important,
what's good. Well, how do you teach people to be good?”
“The
answer to that question, according to the Bible, is not education but
conversion. No one can truly learn to be good, for only God is
perfectly good. The light of true goodness dawns only when God shines
there,” she was told.
Today
is the16th
Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture Readings of today speak about
the goodness
of God and his forgiving
love.
In the First Reading of today from the Book of Wisdom speaks
of the Lord as all-powerful, merciful and just. Despite His divine
power that could simply crush all evil, He permits the sinner to
survive with an eye to the possibility of repentance. In the Second
Reading from his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul tells that the Spirit
comes to help us in our weakness and pleads to God on our behalf. He
shares our 'groaning'
and directs us to God when we are lost or confused. In
the Gospel Jesus teaches about the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven.
He tells us how the Kingdom grows and how it can be transformed from
something tiny into a large entity. God the sower of good seed allows
bad seed as well as good to grow till harvest time and then He will
deal with good and bad on their merit.
THE LORD IS ALL-POWERFUL,
MERCIFUL AND JUST:
In
the First Reading of today from the Book of Wisdom, which is part of
a longer commentary on the events of the Exodus, the author digresses
to consider God’s treatment of sinners. Why are sinners allowed to
prosper, while God’s faithful ones seem to suffer? The answer that
the author gives comes from a deep meditation on the Jewish
scriptures which reveal a God of mercy and compassion, 'slow
to anger, abounding in kindness.' He cares about everyone,
shining in righteousness and has patience towards all. Righteousness
is His strength and he will not judge anyone unjustly. When
some are arrogant, doubting the power of God, He shows them His
strength. Through such actions, He teaches His people that the
righteous must be kind. He permits the sinner to
survive with an eye to the possibility of repentance. Despite the
divine power that could simply crush all evil, God has been shown to
be a God of 'much lenience.' The
author wants us to realize that God’s power is realized through his
mercy for all. Rather than condemning people out right, God seeks the
ways to steer them to repentance. “Lord,
you are good and forgiving.”
THE
SPIRIT COMES TO HELP US IN OUR WEAKNES:
Today’s
Second Reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans teaches us that
the intercession of the Spirit is the font of strength for he
intercedes according to God's will. In a distressing world that
challenges our limits, the Spirit comes to help us in our weakness.
He pleads to God on our behalf. He helps us 'pray
as we ought,' and God who searches our hearts effectively
reveals that God and the Spirit will do anything and everything to
insure that we move closer and closer towards profound personal and
communal experiences of the Divine Mystery! He draws us into
communion with God because the Spirit himself longs with us for that
day when we will know the redemption of our bodies and everything
will be accomplished according to God’s will for those of us who
are his holy ones.
THREE
KINGDOM PARABLES:
Today’s Gospel Reading
from St. Matthew is a continuation of last Sunday's Gospel Reading.
We have a group of three parables that we hear today, all address the
perplexing reality that Jesus and the kingdom he announced seem to
tolerate the presence of moral evil. This attitude seemed
scandalous to some, both in Jesus' day and in the early Christian
community. The answer given to this 'problem
of evil' by Jesus is that God wishes to allow the sinners
time for repentance and further growth. “Lord,
you are good and forgiving.” The excruciatingly gradual
progress and seemingly insignificant size of the kingdom is not
remarkable and in fact mirrors the natural phenomena of wheat,
mustard seeds, and leaven. But all three parables promise an
eschatological resolution to the dilemma, both in the fantastic
growth that lies ahead and in the judgment reserved for the Lord
alone in the final days.
a)
“The Kingdom of Heaven”:
St. Matthew in these
parables speaks consistently of the 'Kingdom
of Heaven' and it could be, for some people, a misleading
phrase because it seems to refer to the after-life, an other-world
future existence. Kingdom
of Heaven in the Gospel does not refer to a place,
either here or hereafter. It is actually the reign of God, or the
rule of God. It is primarily an environment, it is a set of
relationships, it is a situation where God's values prevail. These
values include truth, love, compassion, justice, a sense of
solidarity with all other human beings, a sense of trust in other, a
deep respect for the dignity of every other human person, a holistic
concept of human growth and development. They are the deepest human
values and aspirations as mirrored in the life of Jesus, and all
these are to be seen in the light of God, who is their Ultimate
Source.
b)
The parable of the weeds among the wheat:
In today's Gospel reading we have three images or
parables of the Kingdom at work among us. The first is the parable
of the weeds among the wheat. In this parable there are two
sowers, two kinds of seed, and two harvests – one good the other
bad. The wheat sown in the field is understood to be good and weed
sown by the enemy is bad. The landowner counseled against pulling out
the weeds, lest the wheat may also be pulled out. This decision makes
sense because wheat is usually planted to grow very close together.
If there are weeds among them, the roots may have intertwined. It is
wiser to let the weeds grow with the wheat and sort them out at
harvest time. The point is that the judgment between the wheat and
the weeds is not easy and hasty judgment can be disastrous. A second
point is that final judgment can be made only by the owner.
The explanation of the
parable of the weeds by Jesus is clear. The wheat are the true
believers, planted by Jesus, the Sower, in the world, to bear the
fruits of his Spirit, so as to build his kingdom. At the same time,
the devil also plants his followers as weeds among the true believers
of Jesus Christ. The problem with the wheat and weeds is that both
look alike in their growth stage. Their difference is only noticeable
when they are fully grown. The weeds represent counterfeit believers
of Christ who mislead others away from God with false teachings. In
so doing, they are out to obstruct the growth of the kingdom of
heaven in the world. They are out to destroy the ministry of the
proclamation of the gospel by God’s people. They cause others, even
true Christians, to fall into sin and do evil. This is why Jesus
cautions us to be on the watch and prayerful all the time. However,
God is patient and kind to them and gives them opportunity to repent.
“Lord, you are good and forgiving.” The
parable of the weeds among the wheat tells that the good people (true
believers) and evil people (counterfeit believers) both will be
living together until the end of the world. On the day of judgment
God will separate the evil from the good and will real with them
according to their merit.
c)
The parable of the mustard seed:
The second parable is
the parable of the mustard seed.
The tiny mustard seed literally grew to be a tree which attracted
numerous birds because they loved the little black mustard seed it
produced. God's kingdom works in a similar fashion. It starts from
the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are
receptive to God's word but ends with extraordinarily large results.
There is no attempt to explain how this happens. It works unseen and
causes a transformation from within. There is nothing about it
that would attract attention, wonder and admiration. It takes place
in a quiet way. Such is the kingdom of heaven. Its growth is
miraculous and mysterious and rooted in the things of our common
experience. The challenge is always to see the extraordinary in the
ordinary.
The parable also reflects
on the Church established by Christ and its spectacular growth. He is
predicting that while his group of followers will grow extremely
large from just a small start, it will not remain pure. The parable
of the mustard seed is both a prediction and a warning.
d)
The parable of the yeast:
The third parable is the
parable of the yeast. Here, the kingdom of heaven is compared to
a small amount of yeast in a large batch of dough. Yeast is a
powerful agent of change, and only a little is kneaded into the
dough. Yet given time, it will spread through all the dough – its
effect is comprehensive. In the same way, Jesus' domain started with
twelve men, but it has spread throughout the world.
Again, the yeast makes
dough rise from within. Similarly, kingdom of heaven exerts its
influence from within. God first changes the heart of a person and
that internal change has external manifestations.
Moreover, the yeast does
its job slowly, secretly and silently, but no one can deny its effect
on bread. The same true of the works of grace in our hearts. The
kingdom of heaven works invisibly, its effect is evident to all.
CONCLUSION:
The
Kingdom of
Heaven calls us today to attain the highest ideals and greatest
generosity. It calls us to be loving and forgiving. It also calls for
a great measure of tolerance, patience and understanding in seeing
the Kingdom become a reality. Our experience again and again confirms
that, whenever we try to bring any change and reforms in any
community, it is challenged. The parables remind us that in each one
of us there are elements of the Kingdom and elements that are deeply
opposed to it. The difference between the good and the bad does not
consist in the fact that the good have no weaknesses at all or do not
commit sins. Rather, the good recognize their shortcomings and sins
and they work hard to slowly overcome them. For His part, God
continually sends them the grace to succeed in their efforts. If we
all fight the evil inside us with God's help, then from within us
will proceed good deeds. Then there will be less evil in the world,
less evil done by people to one another.
Finally, the co-existence
of bad and good in the world is a reality we have to live with. Good
and bad people are with us in Church, the workplaces and even at
home. And this reveals to us the reason why Jesus came: not as Judge
but as Savior. Sure, he will be our Judge, too, but later - at the
Last Judgment. Meanwhile, he continues to remain ever patient and
forbearing, lovingly cajoling us to follow the straight and narrow
path so that we will not have ourselves condemned to eternal
damnation. “Lord, you are good and
forgiving.” And this is the Good News of today.
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