Replies

Weeds Among the Wheat

Pastor’s Column

16th Sunday Ordinary Time

July 20, 2014

One of the biggest challenges to our faith is always the question, why is evil tolerated by God in the world? The parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-33) offers us a tremendous amount of insight as to why some people seem to get away with so much evil while God appears to look in the other direction.

Like the weeds and the wheat, we are all at present growing together in the world, but this will not always be so. There is a certain type of wheat-like plant called bearded darnel which looks so much like wheat that in its early stages an untrained eye can’t readily tell the difference between the weed and genuine wheat. This plant has adopted these characteristics to give it a better survival rate. By the time a farmer realizes what kind of plant this is, the roots would have so intertwined themselves with the good plants that to pull up the weeds would necessarily entail destroying the wheat as well. This is why the farmer in our parable decides to let them both grow together till harvest time.

Sowing these kinds of weeds in a field was common among enemies at the time of Christ (the Romans actually had laws against it), so people would’ve been very familiar with this story. To top it all off, the weed is mildly poisonous!

The Lord presently appears to tolerate those who do evil and cause others to do so (the weeds) for the sake of those who love him (the wheat). It is also his desire and will that they be given time to repent; but in the end, there will be a sorting-out by the angels and the weeds will be removed.

It can appear at first glance that the present state of affairs in the world is normal, when in fact this situation is quite temporary. At present we must live in a world where we cannot always readily distinguish the good from evil-doers, who often seem to be getting away with it. But those who habitually live evil lives do not realize that God is watching and waiting to act, holding the present world in existence for the sake of those who love him.

Therefore, the role of Christians and those who genuinely seek God is very great. God allows those who do evil to live side-by-side in this life with the good in the hope that the evil-doers (the “weeds” of our parable) will repent and become wheat. As long as we live on earth, it is not too late! How do we recognize the evil in the world and in ourselves from the good? The good will bear fruit, while evil ultimately is poisonous.

In the meantime, we live in a temporary situation where we are called to turn from evil but not judge others, which is God’s job. The parable is both a warning and a comfort: God tolerates evil for the sake of the good, but only for a little while. The final end of those who choose evil and those who choose the good could not be more different.

Father Gary

Of Wheat and Weeds: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 07.18.14 |

Readings:
Wisdom 12:13,16-19
Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
 Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-43

God is always teaching His people, we hear in today’s First Reading.

And what does He want us to know? That He has care for all of us, that though He is a God of justice, even those who defy and disbelieve Him may hope for His mercy if they turn to Him in repentance.

This divine teaching continues in the three parables that Jesus tells in the Gospel today. Each describes the emergence of the kingdom of God from the seeds sown by His works and preaching. The kingdom’s growth is hidden - like the working of yeast in bread; it’s improbable, unexpected—as in the way the tall mustard tree grows from the smallest of seeds.

Again this week’s readings sound a note of questioning: Why does God permit the evil to grow alongside the good? Why does He permit some to reject the Word of His kingdom?

Because, as we sing in today’s Psalm, God is slow to anger and abounding in kindness. He is just, Jesus assures us - evildoers and those who cause others to sin will be thrown into the fiery furnace at the end of the age. But by His patience, God is teaching us—that above all He desires repentance, and the gathering of all nations to worship Him and to glorify His name.

Even though we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit will intercede for us, Paul promises in today’s Epistle. But first we must turn and call upon Him, we must commit ourselves to letting the good seed of His Word bear fruit in our lives.

So we should not be deceived or lose heart when we see weeds among the wheat, truth and holiness mixed with error, injustice and sin.

For now, He makes His sun rise on the good and the bad (see Matthew 5:45). But the harvest draws near. Let’s work that we might be numbered among the righteous children—who will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father.