A Daily Gospel Reflection by Dn. Chuck McDaniels for August 1st, 2023

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, the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable of the weeds (remember?  The one about how the owner sowed wheat, but his enemy sowed weeds?).  It’s one of the rare times that Jesus explains one of His parables.  It helps us understand (a little) why it is that those who seem to have evil intent don’t “get what’s coming to them”.  I think we (based on our human perspective) wonder that about all the evil in the world, too.  Why doesn’t God just *do* something about it?  Doesn’t He care about those of us who are His children and friends of His Son?  

This past weekend, Linda and I went away, just the two of us.  We had a wonderful time together, and one of the places we went to (on a whim of mine, actually) was the Charles M Shultz Museum in Santa Rosa.  Shultz was the cartoonist who drew the comic strip “Peanuts” for more than 50 years.  It was my favorite comic strip growing up and I still get a smile looking at them.  One of the enduring images from Peanuts was of Charlie Brown’s continual effort to kick the football, held by Lucy.  You know what happens, right?  Charlie runs up to kick the ball and Lucy pulls it away at the last second, and he winds up flat on his back.  

Here’s the thing: no matter how many times Lucy has pulled away the ball, Charlie still has faith that “this time”, he will really kick the ball.  Lucy has probably pulled the ball away a hundred times, a thousand times!  Still, Charlie doesn’t give up.  That’s the lesson we are to learn about the parable of the weeds.  God is like Charlie Brown, never giving up, no matter how many times we’ve pulled the football away.  He will never fail to trust us and to call us, and come running toward us.  And some of us take longer to learn *not* to pull the ball away, don’t we?  God wants all to be in His heavenly kingdom, so He gives what seems a remarkable number of chances.  Thanks be to God that He gives us however many chances we need.  We just have to stop pulling the football away.   

Action for the Day: Take a moment today and reflect on the amazing, endless love and mercy of God.  Be sorry for those times you may have taken it for granted, but for a moment today, just bask in the fact that God will never desert you, no matter what!   If you would like to hear this reflection, click the link below!