(Wisdom
12:13, 16-19; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43)
Today, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the
parable of the tares, the darnel or, as we would call them, the weeds, sown in
a field of good corn, we have Jesus’ answer to those who complain about, or
accuse, Mother Church in order to justify their own lack of faith. Their complaint, their accusation, frequently
ends like this: “You don't need to go to Church in order to live a good life.”
Strangely enough, the supremely devout Pharisees of Jesus’
time were somewhat akin to some of our faithless Catholics today in the sense
that both like to imagine an exclusive religious community into which only those
considered holy should be admitted. One great grief the Pharisees had against
Jesus was that He did not accept their oral traditions as true criteria for
holiness, but demanded from His disciples a holiness greater than that of the
Pharisees. On the other hand, neither did
He always reject individuals commonly regarded as sinners; indeed, He was, at
times, to be found eating and drinking with them, and even called one of them
to become His disciple!
Minutely observing Jesus’ behaviour, the Scribes and
Pharisees were constantly repeating to themselves thoughts like to those of
Simon, their fellow Pharisee who, having invited Jesus to a meal, found himself
mentally criticising Jesus’ patient indulgence towards a reputedly sinful woman
who had ‘thrust’ herself, uninvited, among their company:
This man, if He were a prophet,
would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is
a sinner. (Luke 7:39)
Of course, we are not considering here those who openly disobey
and seriously contemn the teaching of Mother Church or those who would openly
lead astray her faithful by their bad example, for St. Paul -- whom we so often
today fear to follow -- clearly instructed his converts to get rid of such
people. Here we are thinking of those
who, like today’s Gospel weeds, hide themselves among the corn; outwardly seeming
to be part of the living, growing, fruit-promising crop, but secretly, by their
lives destroying it.
Bearing that in mind, let us listen again to Jesus’ answer
to His own ancient adversaries and to His Church’s modern critics:
The kingdom of heaven is like a
man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them
up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you
gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest,
and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my
barn.”'
That pseudo-wheat mentioned in Jesus’ parable was well
known in those days and was considered a great nuisance. It resembled wheat in appearance, but had no
marketable value, nor was it of any use for eating. The rabbis described it as “prostituted
wheat”. Sowing this stuff in someone’s
field was a well-known crime: the Romans had a law against such actions, which
said that “If you have sown tares into another’s field so that you might damage
its productivity, not only can the master (of that field) act with force or
covertly, but … also he can sue for damages.”
Jesus was telling a parable about events that were part and parcel of
the lives of those listening to Him.
Notice, first of all, that this parable shows us that Jesus
knows full that there would be weeds as well as wheat to be found in mother Church. Indeed, in His parable, the problem is so urgent
that the master’s workers say: “Should we root out these weeds at once?” The master, however, knew more about the
agricultural issues involved: for the roots of the tares were mixed together with
those of the wheat, pull one up and you draw both. Therefore, he decided to
delay the removal of the weeds: while the crop was growing to let both weeds
and wheat remain together; however, when it is harvest time, the wheat were to
be separated and put into the barn, while the tares would be bound into bundles
for burning for, though they useless for food, they could be used as fuel for
the fire.
What, therefore, is the teaching of Jesus for us today,
People of God?
First of all, there is an aspect of life in the Church that
is not always sufficiently appreciated by Church members today but which is
perfectly obvious to any present-day large-scale farmer, just as it was to our
Gospel’s little field-owner watching his crop grow: namely, the fact that, just
as weeds hinder the growth, the vitality, and the quality of a good crop, so
also those of sinful life in the Church harm all who are in the Church. And so, we need to bear that in mind today
when we see Mother Church disfigured in so many ways, , scandals, shortage of
vocations, and dwindling numbers of believers … the disfigurement we lament is brought about most obviously by manifestly
faithless or disobedient Catholics. Nevertheless, like the tares among the wheat
in our Gospel reading, to some extent, the wrongs we ourselves may have done or
the good we may have failed to promote or protect, has harmed that love of
Jesus and the healthy atmosphere of Christian observance of God’s commands for our well-being that Mother Church
wants to promote. Rather, therefore,
than allowing ourselves to give way to so-called righteous indignation (which
should really be recognized as self-righteous indignation) about this or
that aspect of the Church, we should
pity her, love her all the more, because she is suffering for the sins of those
she believed who are or should have been, her true children.
Sometimes in films and fiction, and even in the liberal
talk of those wanting to show themselves in a popular light, we are presented
with the picture of a jolly sinner, a loveable rogue, an attractive scoundrel;
or again, with a Christian who understands all, sympathizes with and embraces
all, condemning no sin for such great love of the sinner, and apparently having
no convictions other than a desire to accommodate with whatever is with
men. In actual fact though, such
sinners, rogues, and paragons, are the very wolves in sheep's clothing of which
the Gospel assures us that they only tend to kill and destroy, for there is
nothing lovable in condoned sin and indulged weakness.
People of God, we should not to allow ourselves to be
over-scandalized, and most certainly not put-off Mother Church, because of the
behaviour of individuals, be they every so highly placed, ever so many, ever so
arrogant or despicable. We must never
forget those words of St. Peter in answer to Our Lord (John 6:67–68):
Jesus
then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
The second aspect to learn from today’s readings, is that we
should never become despondent over Mother Church in her trials, no matter how
powerful or popular her enemies may become; because in every parable of today’s
Gospel God’s wheat was finally and successfully gathered in, and the minute
mustard seed became a tree offering shelter and refuge, and the yeast
ultimately permeated and leavened the chosen measure.
The corn sown by Jesus can grow only in the field which He,
the Lord and Saviour, has chosen; any seed that falls by the wayside, among
thorns or on the stony path, surely perishes in one way or another. The seed of Jesus’ planting is His Word
proclaimed authoritatively by the Apostles chosen by Jesus and subsequently
sent out by Him to bring His Good News to the whole world, and such seed can
only grow in Jesus' Church, watered by life-giving showers of His Most Holy
Spirit. Moreover, in that field there
will always be true and faithful workers to be found, called and appointed by
the Master to look after the seed He has sown; and through them, by His Spirit,
He will always provide His People with the guidance and spiritual nourishment
they need, nor He will ever fail to endow them with the grace and spiritual
inspiration necessary for their supernatural fulfilment.
People of God, we should always have a loving, personal,
concern for and commitment to, Mother Church, and therefore we must always confidently
hope and trust in Jesus, as we were encouraged in the first reading:
Your might is the source of
justice; Your mastery over all things makes You lenient to all; (and) You show Your
might when the perfection of Your power is disbelieved. But though You are master of might, You
judge with clemency, and with much lenience You govern us; for power, whenever You
will, attends You.
And we should always turn in our prayers and needs to His
most Holy Spirit, for the Spirit has been given to guide and protect Mother
Church and to form each and every one of us in Jesus, for the Father. Remember and treasure the words of St. Paul in
our reading:
In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the
aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And
the One who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because He
intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
