16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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19th July 20216

Matthew 13, 24 -43 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So, the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

The Parable of the Leaven

Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three ^[^a^]measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Prophecy and the Parables

In all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Tares Explained

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear ____________________________________________________________

Homily

Last week, in the homily that I prepared, I said that parables were used to teach us something about God and the ways in which God interacts with us humans. This week the Church gives us for our meditation the ways in which God relates with us humans, ways in which we are called to do what God asks to do what God asks of us

I remember, as a little child hearing my father speak of money disappearing from his office, not in large amounts but small. To him that meant that not an adult, but a young person was the guilty one. So, he set a trap. Of course, within a few days, he discovered who the person stealing was. It was a young boy from a poor family who wanted to be able to buy from the tuck shop the sweets that boys from more affluent families were able to buy from the tuck shop. My father did not expel the boy from the school. He spoke to him very seriously and warned him that such behaviors would become habits which would lead him into very serious trouble as he got older. My father saw the bad, but he also saw what was good in that young boy. My father, however, also spoke to us, encouraging us not to be selfish and to share with that young boy the sweets that we were able to buy. That young boy changed his ways. He was very intelligent and in secondary school did so well that he was able to go to university and became a very highly regarded professional. He never forgot that incident from his childhood days however and often spoke about it to young men who were experiencing the hardships that he had experienced as a young boy, becoming a model for them. As I read that first parable, I remembered that story. I understood more deeply that all of us are called to be agents of God’s kingdom, here on earth and that it does not take much to be such an agent. What it does require of us is that we be imitators of Christ Jesus. In the parable, the landowner does not act very quickly. The landowner lets the tares grow with the good seed. Only when harvest time comes does the landowner act to secure the fruit of the good seed and then destroy the tares. How important it is to be people who encourage and not be people who destroy. There are other aspects of God’s actions which we must contemplate. Very often in life there are people who begin things with great flash. The parable tells us however that: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” A study of the history of the Church will show us that the Church began very small. It began as a cult of Judaism, a group of people harassed and persecuted by governments. Today, despite persecutions from several sectors of society the church numbers in the billions and is still growing. In Paraguay where I began my missionary journey, the diocese in which our mission was established is now three dioceses with groups striving to live the Gospel as the church first began with groups holding all things in common as the first disciples did. The Church is in fact greater than all other religious groups. She, the church, is like a tree with branches in places like the Amazon, the Congo and the Arctic. The faith of missionaries all over the globe ensures that the Church will not die. The Church began like a mustard seed. It is now like a tree of many branches, so that like many species of birds of the air coming and nesting in its branches, so many peoples and nations have found a home in the Church. Finally, my dear friends, disciples of Jesus, the Gospel of Jesus calls us to continue the work of building the Kingdom of God. All of us Christians and non-Christians are called to live Kingdom values, the values of truth, honesty, love of neighbors and love of God. Instead of wars, let us strive for harmony; instead of hatred let us generate love and friendship, in spite of poverty let us all strive for sufficiency and let us all strive to recreate what was there in the beginning, the possibility of walking with God in the cool of the evening.

Prayer.

All powerful and ever-loving God, you continue to call us to imitate you and your son Jesus. You call us to imitate your gentleness and perseverance in seeking the best for us and for the world. Help us Lord, not to be judgmental and domineering. Help us to be gentle, kind and meek, and help us Lord to desire what there was in the beginning, the possibility of walking with you in the garden as it was in the beginning. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and Jesus, your Son. Amen