The Gospel according to Matthew (13:36-43)
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the Evil One,
and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Reflection:
In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains his parable of the wheat and the weeds (this was from the Gospel from this past Saturday’s daily Mass). It made me think about how it was that Jesus explained His parables to those who were His closest followers. It also made me think of how confusing His stories must have been to those who were not given this extra explanation! One of my fellow DEACON5 brothers described it well that the parables were stories that were meant to cause the one hearing them to scratch their heads to understand the real meaning.
I’ve been recently re-watching an online series about Jesus’s followers called “The Chosen”. In the series, the goal is to get a fuller picture of those whom Jesus chose to be His disciples (and the ones through whom His stories spread, continuing down through the ages to our own day). I was watching the episode called “Invitations”, where Jesus meets with the Pharisee leader, Nicodemus. I loved how this encounter was portrayed, as both actors did a marvelous job with showing the emotion behind that meeting described in John chapter 3. I had such a great sense of how Nicodemus was trying to understand Jesus’ teaching and of how Jesus was trying to reach Nicodemus, even though there were so many things that were obstacles.
Our lives are like that, too. We have so many things calling out to us, and they can take us away from where Jesus wants us to go. Those are the weeds that Jesus talks about in this parable. We have to actively and definitely choose to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and to ask the Holy Spirit to show us how we can be the good seed of the Kingdom. We may not do it perfectly, but if we start with this focus, Jesus will bless our efforts and we will know that He is with us always. We may not understand it all (I can definitely attest to that!), but that’s where we trust that the God who loves us will always lead us to a place of love and peace (though there may be challenges to get there). May each of us be able to trust like that today and always!
Action for the Day:
Take time today to say a prayer, asking God to give you the ability to trust Him to get you through whatever may face you today. And, say a prayer of thanks that He is doing that, even now!
If you would like to hear this reflection, click the link below!
