The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer an opportunity to contemplate being in Covenant with God and the patience of God with the transformation of the weeds in our actions to wheat that gives life.
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| Weeding our attitudes |
The passage from the Book of Exodus describes the liturgy of Moses to ratify the Covenant that developed from the Ten Commandments.
* [24:4] Sacred stones: stone shafts or slabs, erected as symbols of the fact that each of the twelve tribes had entered into this covenant with God; see 23:24; Gn 28:18.1
Psalm 50 states that the sacrifice God really wants is the sacrifice of praise.
* [Psalm 50] A covenant lawsuit stating that the sacrifice God really wants is the sacrifice of praise accompanied by genuine obedience (cf. Mi 6:1–8). It begins with a theophany and the summoning of the court (Ps 50:1–6). Then in direct address God explains what is required of the faithful (Ps 50:7–15), rebukes the hypocritical worshiper (Ps 50:16–21), and concludes with a threat and a promise (Ps 50:22–23; cf. Is 1:19–20).2
In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus uses the Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat to illustrate the complex mixture of good and evil in our lives.
* [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.3
Chas Kestermeier, S.J. explains that it is important to understand that, for the Jews, blood was the seat of life and, to a certain extent, identity: under no circumstances whatsoever might anyone drink it or eat meat with the blood still in it. All blood was sacred, and it had to be returned to the Lord by pouring it into the ground.
This renewed and final covenant is not in the blood of animals but in the blood of God Himself; the God-man Jesus, in His life climaxing in His death, binds humanity to God in a way that breaks down all barriers between us and God: He is now our God and we are His people --- if we do our best to follow that Law of Love that Jesus completed the written Law with. How close will that bond be? Consider the last 2-3 chapters of the Book of Revelation...4
Don Schwager quotes “The Lord sows good seeds in our heart,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).
"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)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 24:3-8 notes that when Moses splashed the blood of sacrificial animals on the altar and sprinkled it on the people, everyone saw it as a beautiful, moving gesture. That blood, the substance that gave life, sealed their covenant with God because it connected them with the altar of his presence.
Jesus inaugurated this new covenant at the Last Supper when he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you” (Luke 22:20). This scene is made present to us at every Mass. Every time the priest offers the Eucharistic prayer, God is essentially reminding us, “I have made an eternal covenant with you. I have given myself to you, all of myself, so that you can live with me forever.”
This is our God, a God who continues to pursue his people, even when they stray. This is our God, who renews his covenant with us every time we receive the Body and Blood of his Son. What a gracious Father we have!6
Friar Jude Winkler shares the duality of the Covenant of Moses. The Hebrew concept involved cutting a Covenant. Friar Jude sees the parable from the Gospel as an example of the patience of God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to a contemplative practice fleshed out by the teaching of Dr. Barbara Holmes and Ruth King attending to details about the development of attitudes toward people of different racial background.
Where in your life do you feel numb, shut down, dismembered, disrespected, or disconnected? What is your earliest memory of feeling this way? What events or circumstances do you believe gave birth to these experiences? What do you believe such feelings keep you from knowing?What racial identities or ethnicities have shaped how you have come to know yourself as a race?What views did your ancestors, elders, parents, or caretakers have about race? How did their views impact you? In what ways were/are your views similar or different?What are the roots of your racial lineage? Given your lineage, what has your race gained or lost throughout the generations? How have these gains or losses influenced your racial views today? [3]7
The weeds and wheat analogy may tempt us to entertain a sense of “tribal” division among the people of the world, but the fruit from focus on this parable is in identifying the “weeds within” that threaten our wholeness in life.
References
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