Sunday Reflections
16th Sunday of year A
Exercising authority with love and patience
1. ✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (13:24-43)
Jesus put another parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’ ….
Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
2. The readings of this Sunday focus on responding to a fundamental question, namely: If God is good and powerful, how is it that the world is still filled with wicked sinners who are even more prosperous than the righteous ones? Why is God so silent about evil in the world?
3. In the first reading (Wis 12:13,16-19)
God is shown as powerful, one who only has to will anything and it will come to pass. And yet he is lenient in his judgment towards sinners. He does this to teach human beings that a righteous person should be kind to others. The gospel takes up the same theme through the kingdom parables that started last Sunday. In the parable Jesus talks of a field sown with good grain into which an enemy came and sowed the darnel, a bad seed that looks like the good grain. When the good seedlings came out the bad ones also germinated. When the servants of the landowner saw this, they suspected that the owner may have mistakenly sown the bad seeds and suggested that the weeds be uprooted. The master explained that an enemy planted the bad seed and that uprooting the weed may harm the good crops. They should rather be allowed to grow together till the time of harvest when the separation would be much easier. Jesus further explained the parable to help the disciples understand that it is about the existence of evil in the world.
4. A close look at the parable shows that contrary to the accusation that the omnipotent God is responsible for evil in the world, Jesus teaches that there is an evil force that plants evil both in the world and in the hearts of men. While God plants goodness in broad day light, the evil one profits cowardly of darkness to sow evil. If the field in the parable is the world, it could also represent the human heart. God has created humans to be good but the evil one has introduced the evil attitudes into their hearts. Each person could notice that good and evil are always in conflict in our hearts. God sees our efforts to be good and our inability to attain that goal. But he does not destroy us because he hopes that evil cannot dominate the good in human heart. He follows us with patience, mercy and love.
5. If we put the readings and the explanation together we get the central message for this Sunday, namely, that in spite of the apparent success of evil, it will never have the final say. This has three implications for our christian life today:
a. Authority should be exercised with patience and mercy:
God certainly has power to destroy all the wicked people in the world but he refused to do it even when his servants would be glad to see it happen. His knowledge that the evil one has corrupting influence on some people makes him to exercise his power with patience. With God all is not either black or white at every moment. The black can become white and vice versa depending on the influence. For this reason those who have power over others should always think of giving people second chance when they err. A good person is just but he must also be merciful with the weak as his heavenly father.
b. Cohabitation of good and evil is a sign of God’s patience:
Most people will like God to remove evil from the world because it comes from the enemy. God thinks otherwise. He sees that while trying to destroy the wicked the good could be harmed because both are intricately linked. A good person today could be a bad person tomorrow. This should teach us patience and tolerance. The world belongs to God and he alone knows how best to arrange it to achieve the salvation of many. We should learn to trust the wisdom of God who wishes that the wicked and the righteous should cohabit till the time of judgment.
c. Evil will be destroyed in the fullness of time:
The fact that evil people seem to prosper can lead some people to embrace evil way. When evil pays faster and better the temptation is to follow the evil way. Today’s gospel shows how erroneous such thought could be. The patient God works with a clear programme. He has ordained a time for the harvest. When that time comes each person will receive the appropriate reward or punishment. Just like the wheat is put into the barn and the darnel is bound and burnt so will it be for good and evil persons respectively when their earthly life ends.
6. You certainly have good and bad influences in your life. Your brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same experience (1Pet5:9). So, be firm in your faith. Patiently bear with those who have to struggle more than you to be better persons. Know that God your father is patient with them as he is with you. Make sincere effort not to envy the wicked or imitate their ways. The judgment time will come sooner than you may imagine. Be faithful till the end.
© Vita, 23/07/23
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