SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
19 JULY 2020
When
Jesus began his public ministry, his message was clear: the kingdom of heaven is in your midst. Many became disciples, because they saw his miracles
as signs of the presence of the kingdom.
They listened to his teachings and embraced his message of mercy,
compassion, and unconditional love. But
as they continued to follow Jesus, questions begin to emerge about the
effectiveness of his Kingdom. To each of
these questions, Jesus responds with parables that relate to their common
experience, not with complicated and precise theological language.
To the
question of why evil remains in the kingdom of heaven, he tells the parable of
the good seed and the weeds. His
listeners would be familiar with the weed Jesus describes. Darnel is a poisonous plant that quickly
spreads its roots. Pulling up the weeds
would endanger the entire crop. Jesus says
that Satan has planted evil in the midst of good. God is patient with human weeds and continues
to give time for people to repent. Saint
Matthew understood this dynamic. He
repented of his greed as a tax collector and embraced the Gospel. We need to be patient with those who do evil
actions. We need to be aware of the
weeds intertwined with the good in our lives.
God gives us time to separate the good from the evil. We leave that judgment to God, who will judge
at the end of time.
To the
question of why there are such insignificant beginnings in the kingdom of
heaven, he tells the parable of the mustard seed. His listeners know that the mustard seed is
the tiniest of seeds. They also know
that this annual plant grows quickly. It
will never be like the giant cedars of Lebanon.
Instead, the kingdom grows through humble beginnings that do not draw
attention. Saint Benedict planted the
humble seeds of a movement that produced monasteries of prayer and work throughout
the centuries. Saint Francis planted the
humble seeds of poverty that formed a religious order that persists to this
day. Mother Theresa planted the seeds of
compassion and care that became a worldwide movement even before she died.
To the
question of why the dynamic of the kingdom of heaven is so hidden, Jesus tells
the parable of the yeast. Jewish
Christian listeners would be surprised at his analogy, because they regard yeast
as a corrupting influence. But Jesus
sees it as positive. The woman takes
yeast and mixes it with three measures of wheat flour. That is sixty pounds, enough to feed one
hundred people! The parable invites us
to believe that a little yeast of the kingdom of heaven can make a huge
difference in our ordinary lives. In
fact, the parable points to the perfected kingdom of heaven at the end of time,
an extraordinary banquet foreseen in the banquet of the Eucharist.
We often
think of the kingdom of heaven as a kingdom that only exists in the heavenly
realm, or as a kingdom that will be present at the end of time. But Jesus speaks these parables to us
today. The kingdom of heaven is in our
midst. Like the good seed, that kingdom
involves tolerance, mercy, compassion, and an invitation to see all people
created in the image of God and deserving of respect. There is an abundance of evil mixed into that
kingdom, both in us and in other people.
But the Lord is patient, waiting for repentance. The kingdom sometimes seems so insignificant
that we wonder if it makes a difference.
But the Lord invites us to trust in small steps, like being generous to
the poor and treating with respect those with whom we disagree. The kingdom is often hidden. But the Lord wants us to know that our
decisions to remain faithful in marriage or strong in our commitments to the
vulnerable will have an effect in daily life.
The kingdom of heaven is in our midst.
Embrace that kingdom and allow others to see its dynamic. Do not get discouraged!
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