Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat

The Sunday Gospel [July 17, 2011]

Matthew 13:24-43

24 He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. 27 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?' 28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29 He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 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."'"

Reflection

“Let them grow together until harvest. “ ~ Jesus in v. 30a

The human tendency is to segregate evil men from the good especially when the former become a threat to the latter. Jails and other measures exist for this, a protection provided by society against evil or criminal elements.

With regard to the kingdom of God, in the parable of the Weeds among the Wheat, Jesus presents another perspective. Here Jesus addresses a crowd familiar to life in the farm. To have a good harvest, the farmer roots out the weeds so that the wheat can have all the soil nutrients. Moreover, Jesus speaks of a darnel, [a noxious plant that looks like wheat in its early stage of growth]. The farmers do not have second thoughts to root out this weed and burn it.

But Jesus offers a different solution: wait for the harvest; let the weeds mature with the wheat, and at harvest time the owner can easily separate the wheat from the weeds which must then be burned.

The solution sounds strange, and this is precisely Jesus’ point. In God’s kingdom, human solutions do not always work. The concern of the kingdom is salvation, which is given to all. Jesus opens the strange way by which God sees to it that everybody is given a chance to enter the kingdom: the burning should take place after the harvest and only he can do this. Meanwhile, people should be patient because the weeds of yesterday may yet turn out to be wheat of tomorrow.

The wisdom of this parable is revealed on Calvary when the thief crucified with Jesus is promised entrance to paradise. As long as a little good vibrates in the heart of man, salvation is always possible. God wants to fan to life the dying embers of goodness.

Jesus does not disregard the right of society to protect them from criminals, but presents the different standard of his kingdom, founded not on laws, but on God’s ability to read the hearts of men and women. Salvation is the right of everybody, and no one on earth is damned. Nobody has the right to categorize people into saved and the damned.

We are all fields sown with seeds of good and evil. In damning others, we may be condemning ourselves. The “final solution,” says Jesus, rests in God alone. The perspective that God is the ultimate Judge brings about humility, patience, and the spontaneity of forgiveness which are prerequisites to belong to God’s kingdom.

Credits: Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP, From the Mountaintop

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

True works of God

[Diary 270]

Without humility, we cannot be pleasing to God. Practice the third degree of humility;[76] that is, not only must one refrain from explaining and defending oneself when reproached with something, but one should rejoice at the humiliation.

If the things you are telling me really come from God, prepare your soul for great suffering. You will encounter disapproval and persecution. They will look upon you as a hysteric and an eccentric, but the Lord will lavish His graces upon you. True works of God always meet opposition and are marked by suffering. If God wants to accomplish something, sooner or later He will do so in spite of the difficulties. Your part, in the meantime, is to arm yourself with great patience.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Parable of the Sower

The Sunday Gospel [July 10, 2011]

Matthew 13:1-23

1One day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. 3And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, 6and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. 7Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Reflection

“And he spoke to them at length in parables.” ~ v. 3

If you are like most people, you remembered this one because it featured a compelling memorable story. And this, as the title of a recent business book puts it, produced a message that is Made to Stick. Jesus was a master of “sticky” messages, parables like today’s Gospel reading of the sower and the seed.

Jesus’ parables stick with us because they open our minds and invite us into the story, which, if we have ears to hear, is endlessly deep. Each parable is like the seed in today’s Gospel – alive, good in every season, and capable of yielding an abundant harvest year after year, if the soil is receptive.

In a way, Jesus himself is the most wondrous parable of all. His life, to quote another book title, is truly The Greatest Story Ever Told. The whole gospel story presents the gripping drama of a Father who longs to save his children; about his Son, whose love moves him to carry out the ultimate rescue mission; about the Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus and now fills and transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

And now that greatest of stories continue on in each us. Will its message stick? It’s up to us.

“Welcome, Master of the harvest! Sow your word in every part of me. Grow whatever crop you desire. I want to know you and love you more each day.”

Credits: the WORD among us

“God cares about the big things and the little things in our life. No matter what.” ~ John Hull

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

A High Degree of Spiritual Life

[Diary 271]

When the Rev. Dr. Sopocko went to the Holy Land, Father Dabrowski, S.J., was the community's confessor. During one confession he asked me if I was aware of the high degree of [spiritual] life that was present in my soul. I answered that I was aware of it and knew what was going on within me. To this the Father replied, "You must not destroy what is going on in your soul, Sister, nor must you change anything on your own. It is not in every soul that the beautiful gift of a higher interior life is manifest as it is in your case, Sister, for it is manifest in an immense degree. Be careful not to waste these great graces of God; a great..."[Here the thought breaks off.]


Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Take My Yoke Upon You

The Sunday Gospel [July 3, 2011]

Matthew 11:25-30

25 At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Reflection

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” ~ Jesus in v. 29a, 30

The yoke generally denotes servitude, bondage, or oppressive burden. In Hebrew tradition, the image was used to indicate the law and its demands, suggesting that man has to submit himself totally in obedience to Yahweh, just as a slave was bound totally to his work.

Jesus takes up this image, strips it of its oppressive element, and gives it a new meaning. He invites the weary and burdened, “Take my yoke upon your shoulders.”

While the Jewish teachers spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the commandments, the yoke of the kingdom, and yoke of Yahweh, Jesus presents only his yoke. To take the yoke of Jesus is not to carry a sack of laws and prescriptions; rather, it is to adhere to his person, to follow him in love. The many demands of religion and morality are brought together in a single, all embracing demand – the yoke of love.

Jesus calls it “my yoke” because he carries it first, unlike false teachers who lay heavy burdens on people’s shoulders but do not lift a single finger to help them (Mt. 23:4).

But what is this yoke of Jesus? The only yoke that Jesus bears and presents is his Father’s will. “My food is to do the work of the one who sent me … “Not my will but yours be done.” Thus, a person’s relationship with God is to be ruled no longer by cold duty and fear of judgment. Instead, it is to be founded on spontaneous love of, and childlike confidence in, God as Father.

Following Jesus in doing the Father’s will is radical and demanding. So how can Jesus say that his yoke is easy and his burden is light?

Jesus does not abolish the law. Instead, he brings it back to its center. Complicated laws, involving minute prescriptions, give way to the simple, though no less demanding commandment of love. Moreover, Jesus gives primacy not to law but to grace, to the joy that the good news of the kingdom brings. He does not ask for less, but his demand is different. One first receives the good news, then as a joyous response he keeps the law, in the manner of the man who finds a pearl of great price and sells everything he has to buy the pearl (Mt. 13:46).

Finally the yoke of Jesus is not one that he places on us but one he shares with us. He assures us that we do not carry it alone; he walks with us and is with us always, till the end of time (Mt.28:30).

Credits: Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP, From the Mountaintop

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).

Faithfulness to the Inspirations of the Holy Spirit

[Diary 291]

On a certain occasion, I saw a person about to commit a mortal sin. I asked the Lord to send me the greatest torments so that that soul could be saved. Then I suddenly felt the terrible pain of a crown of thorns on my head. It lasted for quite a long time, but that person remained in the Lord's grace. 0 my Jesus, how very easy it is to become holy; all that is needed is a bit of good will. If Jesus sees this little bit of good will in the soul, He hurries to give himself to the soul, and nothing can stop Him, neither shortcomings nor falls-absolutely nothing. Jesus is anxious to help that soul, and if it is faithful to this grace from God, it can very soon attain the highest holiness possible for a creature here on earth. God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed He gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit-that is the shortest route.


Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

The Gentle Mastery of Christ

The Holy Gospel [July 1, 2011 - Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus]

25 At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Reflection

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” ~ Jesus in v. 28

The gospel today gives us significant insights into the person of Jesus Christ. He is not only the Messiah; he is more importantly the Son of God. In the same way that we know our earthly father, Jesus knows his heavenly Father. Thus he is able to make his Father known to us. Only a son, who knows his father intimately, can do this.

Jesus not only reveals his Father to us; he invites us to cling to him so that we can be joined to his Father. Verses 28-30 deserve our attention and serious reflection too. To receive the promised rest, we have to put on the yoke of Jesus on ourselves. A yoke was placed on an animal to harness it for work during the time of Jesus. It was also a metaphor for taking up a pattern of life. The gospel today challenges us to come to Jesus, accept him and follow his pattern of life.

Meditate on verses 28-30. What are its implications for you? Can you accept the ‘yoke’ of Jesus?

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).