SIXTEENTH SUNDAY-A July 20, 2008

Wisdom 12:13,16-19 Psalm: 86 Romans 8:26‑-27 Matthew 13:24‑-43

1. A certain priest was know to give long and tedious homilies. One Monday morning he was trimming the hedge around the parish. One of the parishioners was passing and the priest asked her what she thought about his homily. Looking at the hedge she said, “Good idea, Father, keep it short.” She walked on with a smile. He was not sure whether she meant the hedge or the homily.

With summer in full bloom, many take delight in their gardens. Weeds are big headache. So you can relate to the parable of the wheat and the weeds. If you have a small garden, pulling out the weeds each day is not a big chore. However there are times when a weed grows close to a precious flower. If you yank out the weed, you might uproot the flower as well. So you let the weed grow. However in a big field as Jesus relates in the parable, the Weeds growing with the wheat is a different story. It would destroy the wheat. This is also a pattern for the story of our lives.

2. Speaking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus said it was already here. So his listeners asked if the Kingdom is here, why does evil still exist. It means the Kingdom has not been fully established. In 2008, we ask the same question in a different way: If there is a caring God, why does bad things happen to good people, or why is there still so much suffering and evil. How is that those who do good always seem to have a hard life. While those who steal, cheat, lie seem to get away with a lot of money, and seem to enjoy all the luck in this world?

3. Our first reading stress the forbearance and the tolerance of God - which leads into the forbearance highlighted in the Gospel. It is a code of life which is quite different to the modern world. Our Society declares that Might is Right. I am strong and you are not. I am right and you are not. Gentleness and acceptance of the poor, the street people, the slow in thought is considered a sign of weakness. This is inadmissible among the rich and famous. It is a matter of a survival of the fittest. You must uproot the weeds and if some of the wheat is destroyed so be it. The Book of Wisdom however emphasizes that as people of God,

• o if we are righteous, then we must be kind
• o we should fill the people with hope and courage
• o true power is shown in controlling our strength and force and anger.

• 4. In God’s Wisdom of things,

the weeds will be allowed to grow with the wheat,

the bad with the good

the evil with those who fear God.

Eventually, when we grow to maturity, our true nature will be seen. At that time, the weed will be separated from the Wheat.

There are two other parables. The first is the story of a small Mustard seed growing into a huge tree which will protect and give shade to the birds of the air. The second is the yeast in the flour which seasons the whole flour and allows it to rise. They seem to be tagged on. They emphasize that God can use small insignificant things to create great wonders. They are not really connected with the forbearance idea which comes from the parable f the Wheat and the Weeds. However, they do stress that the God Lord will have different plans and values from those we have in our Society today.

Appendix: The Peanuts cartoon characters Lucy and Linus are having a discussion on prayer. While Lucy stresses the need to learn the common prayers, Linus decides to take it to a higher level. He says that it is not a matter of learning, nor a matter of saying a list of prayers, but talking about what is truly at the heart of a human being. At times, we fail to understand what we truly need, he then goes on to quote Paul’s passage in today’s reading. “The Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” At which stage, Lucy ends with I should either slug him, or learn more scripture! In both cases she is off track. The human heart is so mysterious and difficult to understand- it is only the Spirit that connect us with God - and that is prayer.