July 20, 2008, 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19 Romans 8: 26-27 Matthew 13: 24-30
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]
Second reading
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we do not even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as He pleads. (Living Bible translation)
Alleluia, alleluia
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a farmer who sowed good wheat seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed darnel [a poisonous weed] among the wheat, and then went off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The hired hands approached the farmer and asked, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The hired hands asked, ‘Do you want us to go and weed out the darnel?’ ‘No,’ he replied, `because if you weed out the darnel you might pull out the wheat with it. Let the wheat and weed grow side by side till harvest; then I will say to the harvesters, `First collect the darnel and tie it into bundles for burning. Then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Parables of farming
As we are about to pluck our first tomatoes and cucumbers of the season, this is, indeed, the time of the year to be telling parables about farmers and farming. The few farmers left among us, who still put our hands to good Mother Earth, are more turned on by Jesus’ agricultural parables than a supermarket culture which doesn’t have a clue about the food chain.
Darnel – a poisonous weed
This Sunday’s parable is sometimes known as the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds. Sometimes it is known as the Parable of the Wheat and Darnel. The Greek word zizania used in the parable is sometimes translated as “weed.” It is more exactly translated as “darnel.” In the parable Jesus is referring to a weed called darnel which looks exactly like wheat in its young stages. In fact, only an expert can distinguish some kinds of darnel from true wheat. Later on, the differences are remarkable. The darnel has far smaller seeds than wheat. It is claimed that these seeds, when ground to flour, are poisonous, due perhaps to a particular fungus which develops in the seed itself. So “An enemy had done this” takes on more meaning when we understand that the weed in question is the very bad darnel weed.
Parables about patience
Last Sunday Jesus told a parable about a farmer who went out to sow grain in his field, and it fell into the various furrows of the human condition. This Sunday Jesus tells us a parable about another farmer who has sown wheat in his field. As the days go by, he discovers he has a bumper crop of darnel weeds springing up in his field. The hired hands come rushing in exclaiming, “Master, did you not sow good wheat grain in your field? How come there is so much darnel springing up all over?” The master thinks an enemy -- perhaps an angry neighboring farmer -- has done this. The hired hands are impatient and want to rush out and rip up the darnel.
The master, however, is a better farmer than the hired hands. “Be patient,” he tells them. “If you rip up the darnel now, you're going to rip up the wheat as well. Let wheat and weed be side by side till harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to pull up the darnel, tie it into bundles and burn it. Then they may gather the wheat and put it into my bins.” (Mt. 13:24-30) The parable is about patience.
It reminds us of another of Jesus’ parable: that of the Unfruitful Fig Tree. A farmer has a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He becomes impatient with it because it never produces any figs. So he commands his hired hand to cut it down because it was taking up space that could be used for something else. In this parable, however, it is the hired hand who is a better farmer than the master. “Be patient,” he tells his master. “Let’s give the tree one more chance, and let’s let it be for one more year. In the meantime, I’ll give it special care and plenty of fertilizer. If then we get figs next year, fine; if not, then I’ll cut it down.” (Lk 13:6- 9) That parable, too, is about patience.
An all-pervasive mix
The human condition is an all-pervasive mix of wheat and weed. The mix runs through everything. All human joy is a mix; there's always some shadow that falls upon it, and the greater the joy, the greater the shadow. All human beings are a mix. The saints we canonize aren’t as good, and the sinners we denounce aren’t as bad, as we make them out to be. Our kids, our spouses and we ourselves are a mix of wheat and weeds. Our humility is tinged with pride; our generosity is faintly sprinkled over with self-interest; our so- called God-centered lives subtly point also to ourselves.
Even the church is a mix of wheat and weed -- of saints and sinners. If that lesson of Jesus’ parable had been more firmly imbedded in our hearts and heads, we Catholics would not have suffered so drastically upon the revelation of clergy sex abuse. Catholics, who lose sight of their church’s weedy side, brook no criticism of their “Holy Mother Church.” Since the mix of wheat and weed will always be present in the church right up to the Day of Harvest, the true church of Christ is always an ecclesia reformanda – always a church in need of reform.
Patience –not a shabby word
The mix of wheat and darnel weed will always be present in the human condition right up to the Day of Harvest -- the Day of the Great Clarification -- when finally the field of wheat will be cleared of the darnel. It will finally be ripped up, tied into bundles and cast into fire, and then the golden grains of wheat will be gathered into bins. Until then, however, patience!
Patience is not a shabby word. It comes from the Latin patior which means to suffer. Patience is the power to suffer postponing ripping up the darnel (or cutting down the fruitless fig tree) when the situation on the ground seems to call for that. Patience is the power to suffer the mix of the human condition until the Day of Harvest.
The mix in Tony Snow
Tony Snow, whose religious faith, superb communication skills and work ethic propelled him to prominence in the media world, died in the early morning hours of July 12, 2008, after a long courageous battle with colon cancer.
In May of 2007, the Catholic University of America honored Snow by asking him to give the annual commencement address to the graduates. The address was characteristically blunt and practical, and at times it rose to the level of inspired insight. He told the graduates to “Heed the counsel of your elders, including your parents. I guarantee you, they have made some howling mistakes if, like me, they were in college in the ’70s and ’80s. They probably haven’t owned up to them, but they might now, because they want to protect you. You see, they know that you are leaving the nest. And now that you’re leaving the nest, predators soon will begin to circle.” Then he told the graduates to "Be patient. If somebody tries to give you a hard sell, you know they’re peddling snake oil.” Again he told them to “Be patient. If your gut tells you something’s fishy, trust your gut.”
He told them also to “Think not only of what it means to love but also what it means to be loved. I have a lot of experience with that. Since the news that I have cancer again, I have heard from thousands and thousands of people, and I have been the subject of untold prayers. I’m telling you right now: You’re young [and you feel] bullet-proof and invincible. [But] never underestimate the power of other people’s love and prayer. They have incredible power. It’s as if I’ve been carried on the shoulders of an entire army. And they had made me weightless.”
The manner and the message of Snow’s address showed the mighty mettle of the man.
Tony Snow was a very patient man. He had great powers to suffer the mix of wheat and darnel in his very short life. Nothing proved that more powerfully than the eternal smile that illumined his handsome face through thick and thin.
Conclusion
The mix is over
Divine patience is God’s power to suffer the mix in us. It is God’s power not to love the wheat and not to hate the weed in us, but simply to love us, period! That’s called Amazing Grace.
Human patience is our power to suffer the mix in each other and in human condition in general. Sometimes we can be proactively patient by hoeing around the barren fig tree, fertilizing it and giving it a second chance. Sometimes there is simply nothing we can do but patiently endure the darnel until the Day of Harvest. The Day of Harvest has come for Tony Snow. The darnel of his cancer has been ripped up, tied into bundles and burned. And the golden grain of his goodness has now been gathered into the bins of eternal life.
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19 Romans 8: 26-27 Matthew 13: 24-30
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]
Second reading
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we do not even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as He pleads. (Living Bible translation)
Alleluia, alleluia
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a farmer who sowed good wheat seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed darnel [a poisonous weed] among the wheat, and then went off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The hired hands approached the farmer and asked, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The hired hands asked, ‘Do you want us to go and weed out the darnel?’ ‘No,’ he replied, `because if you weed out the darnel you might pull out the wheat with it. Let the wheat and weed grow side by side till harvest; then I will say to the harvesters, `First collect the darnel and tie it into bundles for burning. Then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Parables of farming
As we are about to pluck our first tomatoes and cucumbers of the season, this is, indeed, the time of the year to be telling parables about farmers and farming. The few farmers left among us, who still put our hands to good Mother Earth, are more turned on by Jesus’ agricultural parables than a supermarket culture which doesn’t have a clue about the food chain.
Darnel – a poisonous weed
This Sunday’s parable is sometimes known as the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds. Sometimes it is known as the Parable of the Wheat and Darnel. The Greek word zizania used in the parable is sometimes translated as “weed.” It is more exactly translated as “darnel.” In the parable Jesus is referring to a weed called darnel which looks exactly like wheat in its young stages. In fact, only an expert can distinguish some kinds of darnel from true wheat. Later on, the differences are remarkable. The darnel has far smaller seeds than wheat. It is claimed that these seeds, when ground to flour, are poisonous, due perhaps to a particular fungus which develops in the seed itself. So “An enemy had done this” takes on more meaning when we understand that the weed in question is the very bad darnel weed.
Parables about patience
Last Sunday Jesus told a parable about a farmer who went out to sow grain in his field, and it fell into the various furrows of the human condition. This Sunday Jesus tells us a parable about another farmer who has sown wheat in his field. As the days go by, he discovers he has a bumper crop of darnel weeds springing up in his field. The hired hands come rushing in exclaiming, “Master, did you not sow good wheat grain in your field? How come there is so much darnel springing up all over?” The master thinks an enemy -- perhaps an angry neighboring farmer -- has done this. The hired hands are impatient and want to rush out and rip up the darnel.
The master, however, is a better farmer than the hired hands. “Be patient,” he tells them. “If you rip up the darnel now, you're going to rip up the wheat as well. Let wheat and weed be side by side till harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to pull up the darnel, tie it into bundles and burn it. Then they may gather the wheat and put it into my bins.” (Mt. 13:24-30) The parable is about patience.
It reminds us of another of Jesus’ parable: that of the Unfruitful Fig Tree. A farmer has a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He becomes impatient with it because it never produces any figs. So he commands his hired hand to cut it down because it was taking up space that could be used for something else. In this parable, however, it is the hired hand who is a better farmer than the master. “Be patient,” he tells his master. “Let’s give the tree one more chance, and let’s let it be for one more year. In the meantime, I’ll give it special care and plenty of fertilizer. If then we get figs next year, fine; if not, then I’ll cut it down.” (Lk 13:6- 9) That parable, too, is about patience.
An all-pervasive mix
The human condition is an all-pervasive mix of wheat and weed. The mix runs through everything. All human joy is a mix; there's always some shadow that falls upon it, and the greater the joy, the greater the shadow. All human beings are a mix. The saints we canonize aren’t as good, and the sinners we denounce aren’t as bad, as we make them out to be. Our kids, our spouses and we ourselves are a mix of wheat and weeds. Our humility is tinged with pride; our generosity is faintly sprinkled over with self-interest; our so- called God-centered lives subtly point also to ourselves.
Even the church is a mix of wheat and weed -- of saints and sinners. If that lesson of Jesus’ parable had been more firmly imbedded in our hearts and heads, we Catholics would not have suffered so drastically upon the revelation of clergy sex abuse. Catholics, who lose sight of their church’s weedy side, brook no criticism of their “Holy Mother Church.” Since the mix of wheat and weed will always be present in the church right up to the Day of Harvest, the true church of Christ is always an ecclesia reformanda – always a church in need of reform.
Patience –not a shabby word
The mix of wheat and darnel weed will always be present in the human condition right up to the Day of Harvest -- the Day of the Great Clarification -- when finally the field of wheat will be cleared of the darnel. It will finally be ripped up, tied into bundles and cast into fire, and then the golden grains of wheat will be gathered into bins. Until then, however, patience!
Patience is not a shabby word. It comes from the Latin patior which means to suffer. Patience is the power to suffer postponing ripping up the darnel (or cutting down the fruitless fig tree) when the situation on the ground seems to call for that. Patience is the power to suffer the mix of the human condition until the Day of Harvest.
The mix in Tony Snow
Tony Snow, whose religious faith, superb communication skills and work ethic propelled him to prominence in the media world, died in the early morning hours of July 12, 2008, after a long courageous battle with colon cancer.
In May of 2007, the Catholic University of America honored Snow by asking him to give the annual commencement address to the graduates. The address was characteristically blunt and practical, and at times it rose to the level of inspired insight. He told the graduates to “Heed the counsel of your elders, including your parents. I guarantee you, they have made some howling mistakes if, like me, they were in college in the ’70s and ’80s. They probably haven’t owned up to them, but they might now, because they want to protect you. You see, they know that you are leaving the nest. And now that you’re leaving the nest, predators soon will begin to circle.” Then he told the graduates to "Be patient. If somebody tries to give you a hard sell, you know they’re peddling snake oil.” Again he told them to “Be patient. If your gut tells you something’s fishy, trust your gut.”
He told them also to “Think not only of what it means to love but also what it means to be loved. I have a lot of experience with that. Since the news that I have cancer again, I have heard from thousands and thousands of people, and I have been the subject of untold prayers. I’m telling you right now: You’re young [and you feel] bullet-proof and invincible. [But] never underestimate the power of other people’s love and prayer. They have incredible power. It’s as if I’ve been carried on the shoulders of an entire army. And they had made me weightless.”
The manner and the message of Snow’s address showed the mighty mettle of the man.
Tony Snow was a very patient man. He had great powers to suffer the mix of wheat and darnel in his very short life. Nothing proved that more powerfully than the eternal smile that illumined his handsome face through thick and thin.
Conclusion
The mix is over
Divine patience is God’s power to suffer the mix in us. It is God’s power not to love the wheat and not to hate the weed in us, but simply to love us, period! That’s called Amazing Grace.
Human patience is our power to suffer the mix in each other and in human condition in general. Sometimes we can be proactively patient by hoeing around the barren fig tree, fertilizing it and giving it a second chance. Sometimes there is simply nothing we can do but patiently endure the darnel until the Day of Harvest. The Day of Harvest has come for Tony Snow. The darnel of his cancer has been ripped up, tied into bundles and burned. And the golden grain of his goodness has now been gathered into the bins of eternal life.
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
