Sunday 19th July 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Matthew 13: 24-43
He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s laborers went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” He said to them, “Some enemy has done this.” And the labourers said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.
Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.” He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air can come and shelter in its branches.’
He told them another parable, ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’ In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, He would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: I will speak to you in parables, unfold what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.
Then, leaving the crowds, He went to the house; and His disciples came to Him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable about the darnel in the field.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the Evil One; the enemy who sowed it, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of falling and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the upright will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears should listen!
The Gospel of the Lord
The Mass intention is for Peter Bradshaw RIP
Reflection:
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a second parable about sowing seeds, this time about two sower’s, one who sows good seed to grow wheat, and the enemy who sows weeds among the wheat. Jesus explains to his disciples in private. That the parable of the sower, the parable of the wheat and weeds offers a perspective on opposition to Jesus, and also speaks more generally to the persistence of evil in the world.
And here was Jesus, looking and sounding very much like he might just be the One, telling them stories about farming! Who cares about weed control, when your world is falling down around your ears? “Let anyone with ears listen,” Jesus says, and we are reminded that these parables are more than entertaining stories. These are stories that read us. How we hear them depends on the condition of our hearts and minds. Wherever we may be on our journey of faith, these stories speak directly to us in our current circumstance.
There are many ways to interpret the parable of the weeds.
At its most basic level, this story might be about how difficult it is to tell weeds from wheat. Bearded darnel is “an annoying weed that looks very much like wheat, especially before maturity, and can carry a poisonous fungus. If it is harvested and ground together with wheat, the resulting flour is spoiled.”
As the grain matures, it’s easy to tell the slender heads of the weeds from the fuller heads of wheat, but by then, it’s too late to uproot one without damaging the other. If we are part of the crowd, we simply hear that pulling weeds can cause more harm than good, destroying the very crops we want to harvest. But this story is probably more than just a farming tip for weed control. Jesus is talking directly to us of how we need to be on our guard to protect the wheat that he has planted in the soil of our souls. We are called to water, nature, and minister the seed. So that, it can take root deep within us and bear an everlasting fruit that will united us to Jesus forever!
- What is your reaction towards the evil that you see in the world and in yourself?
- Is it the reaction of the servants or that of the owner?
Fr John
