Sunday Readings: Wisdom 12.13, 16-19; Romans 8.26-27; Matthew 13.24-43
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came to him and said, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from? The Master replied, “An enemy has done this.”
The slaves asked, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” The master replied, “No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matthew 13.24-30).
In the context of Jesus’ ministry, the parable of the weeds and wheat addresses the many who criticize Jesus for eating with outcasts and sinners. By eating with those who listen with their ears but whom others judge to be sinners, Jesus extends God’s salvation to everyone. “Let God sort out who is worthy of the kingdom,” the parable implies. There may be some real surprises at the final curtain call!
Matthew reflects his own community’s disappointment that relatively few Jews embraced Jesus and joined the Christian community. Matthew’s explanation calls the community to interiorize the patience of God.
In his apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis teaches his pastoral approach. “Time is greater than space,” he writes, giving priority to processes that build and develop communities over time and that allow time for healing and grace in relationships and families. “Unity is greater than conflict,” he insists. “The Spirit can harmonize every diversity.” Most of us recognize we so often magnify differences when we have more in common than divides us.
- What do you hear in the parable of the weeds and wheat?