Living with the weeds and the wheat

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today urge us go deeper into our religious practice so that we participate with God in loving action to bring justice and peace.

Our care of the Garden

The Prophet Jeremiah warns the people of Judah against presuming the protection of God and the Temple when their actions contradict their religiosity.

* [7:1–15] The Temple of the Lord will not guarantee safety against enemy invasion or any other misfortune.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus identifies that there are weeds of evil that grow up in the company of the wheat from the good seed planted by God in ourselves and our society.

* [13:24–30] This parable is peculiar to Matthew. The comparison in Mt 13:24 does not mean that the kingdom of heaven may be likened simply to the person in question but to the situation narrated in the whole story. The refusal of the householder to allow his slaves to separate the wheat from the weeds while they are still growing is a warning to the disciples not to attempt to anticipate the final judgment of God by a definitive exclusion of sinners from the kingdom. In its present stage it is composed of the good and the bad. The judgment of God alone will eliminate the sinful. Until then there must be patience and the preaching of repentance

Nancy Rockwell finds the Weeds Among the Wheat offers some opportunity for reflection on the morality of some of our political activities.

The earth is in deep trouble. We know that. Also, the people who are the field of this nation are in trouble, too. The harvest we need to watch and tend is in the field, and it is the field that needs our tending. We need to ask what we are growing, here in America, and around the world.

Rev. Steve Ryan observes that Christ is not talking cultivation or landscaping.  He’s talking about the kingdom of God: Who has a place in it. And who decides.

The scribes and Pharisees sniff at the company Christ keeps.  “He eats with sinners [a euphemism for sex workers] and tax collectors” (Luke 15:1-2). They go so far as to suggest that, if this fellow from Nazareth were a true prophet, he would find better folks to hang with (Luke 7:38ff.).
Yet Jesus answers quite pointedly:  “The tax collectors and sinners enter into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21: 31).  Why? Because their hearts are ready.
The Pharisees looked at the sinners and tax collectors and saw weeds.Christ looked at them and saw wheat.

Don Schwager uses the words of Chromatius (an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome) to emphasize that the Lord sows good seeds in our heart.

"The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds. He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God’s word is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and heavenly fruit." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 51.1)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 7:1-11 leads to a conclusion.

Remember, repentance and reform take time. God is infinitely patient. If you work with him, both your deeds and your ways will change!

Friar Jude Winkler comments on Jeremiah’s call for people to convert their ways and not presume upon God’s mercy. Both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of our faith are identified in the texts today. The mystery of the evil that people do is contrasted by the patience of God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, summarizes a week of meditations on Eucharist by urging us to consider at our meals that many elements, such as the rain, sunshine, earth, air and love, have all come together to form this wonderful meal. In fact, through this food we see that the entire universe is supporting our existence.

We are aware of the whole sangha [community] as we serve ourselves and we should take an amount of food that is good for us. Before eating, . . . we can enjoy breathing in and out while practicing the five contemplations.
This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.May we recognise and transform unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build our sangha, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.

The practices that support our contemplation of the Presence of God involve action to support the disadvantaged and outcast as we identify, perhaps at our table gathering, the weeds within ourselves and our communities that may be patiently targeted for removal.

References

(n.d.). Jeremiah, chapter 7 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/7

(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/13:24 

(2017, July 15). Weeds Among the Wheat - Patheos. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/biteintheapple/weeds-among-wheat/

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved July 28, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html 

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass Readings and Catholic .... Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(n.d.). Archive - Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and .... Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/