16th SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME
Wis 12: 13, 16-19; Rm 8:26-27; Mt 13: 24-43

Last week, the Parable of “The Sower” presented God as a farmer who scattered His Words into people’s souls.  Some souls were like the roadway, when the seeds fell on it, it got stepped on and trampled, and could not grow.  Other souls were hardened like pebbles and rocks that even though the seeds at first sprouted, but the heat from the sun make them withered due to lack of water.  Still other souls were like a thorn bush growing out of control and choking the life out of the growing seeds, and so did not produce any thing either.  But there were souls who were like fertile soil, the seeds grew from it and became fruitful, bringing hope for a successful harvest to the farmers.

This week, the Parable of “The Weeds” once again presented God as a farmer who sowed good seeds in the field, but later on, Satan secretly scattered the bad seeds – the weeds in the night.  Therefore, on the same fertile soil, wheat and weeds thrived and grew together, their roots became entwined to each other. 

The sincere servant was very concerned and distressed, he wanted his master to immediately resolve the problem of the good and the bad co-existing together.  But the master was concerned that if they pull out the weed, they might also uproot the wheat, so he decided to wait until harvest season.  At that time, the wheat would produce grain and be gathered together and stored in the barn, while the weeds will be cut down, tied into bundles and thrown into the fire.

The Parable of “The Weeds” reveals the image of the world, the church, the family, and people as fields which bore different characteristics.  Kindness and evil, good and bad, grace and sins seem to be intertwined with each other.  There isn’t a society with just all the good people or one with all the bad people.  In the same way, there isn’t a community or parish with just all the holy people or one with all the sinners.  The patience and compassion of the land owner is like a lucky chance for changes and perfection.  God always opens the gate for repentance and for producing good fruits.

This parable compels me to enter into a journey of self-examination:  Am I a healthy, green stalk of wheat producing wonderful grains for the world, or am I the weed that is consuming all the good nutrients of life?

Surely my soul carries many good seeds which were sown by God, but at the same time, my soul also carries quite a bit of bad seeds that were scattered by Satan and his workers.  And yet, which seeds are being tended to and which seeds are being oppressed?  Am I watering the wheat of my life or am I trying to pull out my own weeds and other people’s life along with it?

Have I been cooperating with God to sow good seeds into world today or have I been helping the devil to scatter bad seeds into the hearts of those around me?

There is a point that’s very noteworthy in this Parable:  While everyone was asleep, a bad person came and scattered weeds in the field and then left.  The enemy made his move yet no one was aware of it.  The seeds of evil entered the world in unexpected ways.  People only recognize it when it grows and begins to destroy the crop.

Therefore, God’s Words today invite us to carry an attitude of being awake.  If I forget that: Life is a continuous struggle for goodness to grow, I will be crushed by evil.  If I am not being on guard of all the darkness of life, my life will be conquered by the devil.

When people say: “oh, it’s nothing” about pornographic movies or magazines as means of entertainment; or when people think that:  “it’s no big deal” to sniff a little bit of cocaine when their friends urge them to experience a taste of life; or when people see that:  “it’s no problem” to stop praying or going to Church on one Sunday…, all of these circumstances are the seeds of weeds that Satan scattered into this life, these seeds are waiting for the day to grow and destroy.

It is not just the devil who sow weeds.  If we are not on guard, beware, we may be the very ones who help to scatter weeds into other people’s lives.  Some parents sow lies and greed into the souls of their children and yet they are not even aware of this.  For example, a mother who comes home from the market bragging with the whole family that:  “The absent-minded cashier gave me several extra dollars in change, I’m so happy!”  When instead, she should have told her family:  “Oh, I have returned the extra dollars she mistakenly gave to me for the sake of fairness”, or:  “I didn’t want her to have to pay back the money from her own pocket, also she might have gotten into trouble with her boss for this mistake”.  The mother in this case was happy to collect for herself the immediate benefit without realizing that she had sown into the hearts of her children the seeds of selfishness, greed and dishonesty; when these children grow older, they would be hoping that other people will make mistake, or be forgetful and absent-minded so they can reap the benefit for themselves.

The actions, words, and attitude of a person have similar impact as those of the seeds.  If it is a good seed, the family and the society will benefit so much from it.  On the contrary, if it is a bad seed, pain and misery will surely make their marks.

There was a funny story in the newspaper:  A little boy came to visit his grandpa one weekend.  The grandpa noticed that the boy was playing excitedly with his friend, but every time his grandson opened his mouth, he uttered bad words.  His grandpa called him over and asked:
            -‘Where did you learn to talk like that? From now on, I forbid you to play with those kids ok?’
The boy sighed and said:
            -‘Does that mean from now on I can never play with my dad anymore?’
His grandpa:  !!! (So he learned those bad words from his dad).

My friends, the Lord needs us to assist Him in sowing good seeds in our family, our parish, and into the hearts of others.  Some seeds may be as tiny as the mustard seeds, but they possess amazing potentials.  Some seeds may be very simple, unnoticeable, yet they are like yeast, able to cause great amount of flour to rise.  Go and sow the seeds of love, honesty, loyalty, patience, generosity, and forgiveness… Surely the fruits of tomorrow will be a joyful and abundant harvest.   

C.T.