Sunday Reflection – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A (07/23/17):
(WIS 12:13, 16-19 / PS 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 / ROM 8:26-27 / MT 13:24-43)
The first reading is from the book Wisdom. Society and advertising would like us to believe that the next phone or a little more money or power is what we must have to give us the “good life” and happiness. The book of Wisdom on the other hand, was written by a wise old sage a century or so before Jesus’ coming, and tells us what the “good life” really consists of. It is a life lived according to Yahweh’s will and love.
The LORD is the only God capable of caring for all of the human race, who never unjustly condemns. His might is, in reality, the true source of justice, yet His mastery over all makes Him lenient with human beings. If we reject the Lord’s overtures, the Lord rebukes temerity. In spite of tremendous might, God nonetheless judges with clemency and lenience. But there’s a catch. If God deals with us with such great kindness, then we are expected to deal with those around us in the same manner when we are to be called to have justice. This is the message of Pope Francis over and over again. To be just demands that we have mercy, just as the Creator does with us.
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The first reading of God’s forgiveness and mercy and our response to do the same lead in response fits nicely into today’s Gospel reading. The gospel focuses on the parable usually called the parable of the weeds and wheat. It helps to understand the culture Jesus was a part of. Honor and shame were extremely important. Just as one’s family was the center of one’s life, so too, the family’s enemies were accepted also as part of the deal. The society was called hostile and conflict-oriented. In our society, sowing weeds to ruin another farmer’s crop would be unthinkable. In the parable, when the weeds start coming up, the farmer with the crop would be publicly shamed. Except that, by his shrewd decision, he wouldn’t be in the end.
Not only would he get the full value of his crop but he would have extra fuel for his needs from the weeds. Note that the farmer would ordinarily retaliate immediately in that culture, but instead he simply bides his time to harvest. Let us be slow to retaliate when we think we are harmed, and thus help ourselves and the kingdom grow to fruition