Cycle A - Year II:  

20 July 2014: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical color: Green)

Matthew 13:24-43

God waits patiently!

Our Lord Jesus continues to preach to his disciples about the kingdom of God through parables. The Gospel reading this Sunday tells us about three of such parables but all with the same theme. Let us reflect on the first Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.

The gist of this parable: A farm owner sows good seed of wheat into his field. At night time, his enemy comes and sows weeds all through the wheat. So that when the crop begins to grow, the weeds grow as well. The farm workers ask the owner if they should pull up the weeds. The farm owner responds: "No, if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them. So let them grow together until harvest."

The meaning of the parable: The farm owner represents God who sows only good seed; the weeds, or the presence of evil in our world, comes from the heart of men and women who choose not to obey Him.

The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat proclaims the patience of our heavenly Father. He decides to let the good and the bad seed co-exist while constantly nourishing the good seed with an abundance of grace. Thus, He allows the sun and the rain to fall on the good seed and the bad seed in order to let the good seed grow, become strong, and bear much fruits.

In practical life, the message of the gospel is that God's patience is directed at our salvation. God patiently waits for the harvest, bearing with slow growth and making room for repentance.

Our response to God's amazing patience and mercy should be a change of heart and a desire to change our lives and live completely for Christ. We should be overwhelmed  by God's merciful love and radically commit ourselves to seek His will in every aspect of our lives.

In other words, we should be willing to stand tall among the weeds in our world and produce the abundant harvest of virtue, prayer, and charitable deeds.

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us pray for the grace of patience with one another's shortcoming and to heed God's call for a change of heart and repentance. For God in his great mercy, constantly invites us back to Him after we wander. He is remarkably our patient God.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!