Cycle A - Year I:  

23 July 2023: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Wisdom 12:13, 16-19

Second Reading:   Romans 8:26-27

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 13:24-43 

Our loving and patient God!

How can the human mind fathom the mystery of God? It never will, but our Lord Jesus Christ invites us through parables to go and embrace the mystery of God and recognize our inability to fully grasp who God is and His plan for humanity.

One of Jesus' favorite ways of teaching the disciples about God's kingdom was through parables, using them to express profound spiritual truths. Parables represent a key part of the teaching of Jesus, forming approximately one third of His recorded preaching. 

So what is a parable?

Parable is a short story based on a familiar life experience used to teach a spiritual lesson. Our Lord Jesus used them as effective tools to convey His message about God's kingdom.

The Gospel proclamation this Sunday tells us three of such parables, all with the same central theme. Let us use the first one and reflect on the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.

The gist of the 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 farm owner if they should pull up the weeds. The owner responds: "No, if you pull the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them. So let them grow together until harvest." (Mt 13:29-30)     

How do we understand this parable?

The farm owner represents God Himself who sows only good seeds; but the weeds, or the presence of evil in our world, come from the heart of men and women who choose not to obey God. It is the devil trying to distract us from that what is God's.

This Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat is meant to tell us of the patience of our heavenly Father towards us. God allows the good and the bad seeds to co-exist. And the sun and the rain fall on both the good seed and the bad seed. But God constantly nourishes the good seed with an abundance of grace in order to let it grow healthy and strong, and bear fruits.

The message of the Gospel is that God's patience is really directed at our salvation. God patiently awaits for the harvest, bearing even with slow growth, but also making room for repentance. Because where there is life, there is always hope of redemption and of the triumph of good over evil. The ultimate victory of goodness and love, truth and justice will be accomplished by the Son of God at the harvest at the end of the age.

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. The first reading in Wisdom assures us: "But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us." (Wis 12:18)   

In our individual lives, our thoughts, words, and actions may either be "wheat seeds" or "weeds". The former makes us happy and the latter makes us sad. The "wheat seeds" will make us  become successful while the "weed seeds" hinder us from reaching our potentials. In the end, the "wheat seeds" will bring us to God's kingdom, but if we have cultivated the "weed seeds" instead, we will be sent to eternal damnation. 

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!