💖 HOMILY - JULY 23 💖

First Reading - Jeremiah 7:1-11

Gospel - Matthew 13:24-30

We are in the world where we have everything available on the tip of our fingures. We are used to instant responses. However, living in the world of instant solution, we are losing the virtue of patience. The readings of today remind us that our God is a patient God who waits for us patiently. Therefore, we also need to cultivate the virtue of patience in relationship with one another as well.

The first reading is a beautiful passage that reminds us that God waits for us patiently. The prophet Jeremiah is sent by God to the people to announce to them the need of their conversation or repentance. The people are exhorted to return to God by choosing to live a righteous life: where the vulnerable ones (widows, orphans, and strangers) are respected and the true God is always worshipped. 

Today's gospel passage gives us a warning that we should not be in a hurry to eliminate the “weeds” or so called “bad people” on the basis of unwarranted or hasty judgment, because our compassionate God patiently waits for them to be converted into good people. The weeds among the wheat in the parable are a variety of tares known as “bearded darnel.” They resemble wheat plants so closely that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other except when the heads of seed appear. By that time, their roots are so intertwined that the tares cannot be weeded out without plucking the wheat out with them. At the end of the harvest, tares and wheat must be separated by hand, through examining the color difference between darnel and wheat grains. The darnel grains must be removed, not only because they are not wheat, but because they are slightly poisonous.

Dear friends, the parable tells us why we should not treat others as “weeds,” i.e. evil or wicked. 1) Each one of us is a combination of wheat and weeds; as the saying goes, “There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us. Since it is impossible for us to judge people as evil or good, we must learn to be kind to them relying on the power of God to convert them. 2) Many people who do evil are converted at a certain time in their lives because of the grace of God. Our God awaits repentant sinners, giving them the strength to acknowledge their weakness and come to for Mercy. . 3) Since the good example and the fervent, ongoing prayers and penances of practicing Christians can influence and occasion the conversion of people who do evil, it is the duty and the joy of all Christians to live exemplary lives and to treat them with love, compassion, and the spirit of forgiveness. Hence, let us grow up as healthy wheat in God’s field, leaving the weeds for Jesus to take care of. 4) There will be a separation of weeds and wheat, good and bad fish (13:47-50), sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46). But this separation will take place at the end of the world, on God’s timetable not ours. Hence, let us leave the judgment to God.