Homily: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Satan Planting Weeds

Readings: Wis 12:13,16-19; Ps 86; Rom 8:26-27; Mt 13:24-43

OK, show of hands…How many sinners do we have out there? Hmm…not that many. If you’re not sinners, you can be only one other thing: you must be saints. And if that’s the case…well, I am truly honored to be in the presence of so much holiness.

You’re all very fortunate today, because Jesus prepared the first parable in our Gospel reading just for you. That’s right; the parable of the wheat and the weeds was aimed particularly at all you sinners who think you’re saints. Now, don’t feel too insulted, because I include myself right in there with you.

Notice that our Gospel reading ends with Jesus saying, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” I guess He’s telling us that what He has to say about all this sinfulness and saintliness is pretty important. So let’s take a closer look at this parable and see if maybe it can help us correct that inflated opinion we tend to have of ourselves.

First of all, I want you to take on the role of one of the slaves. Now it’s not easy being a slave, always having to do what you’re told, even when you don’t understand or don’t agree. But God is a good and caring master. And He allows you to question what you don’t understand.

“Master, where did the weeds come from?” God explains that Satan, his enemy, sabotaged His work by planting weeds, by seeding the world with those who would cause only problems and strife. Well, naturally, we saintly sinners want to make things right. We want to go out into the field and rip out those weeds, along with anything else that might get in the way. Just turn us loose, God, and we’ll solve all your problems. Just let us do it now! For we’re the good and decent people; we’re the righteous ones; we’re the ones with ears to hear.

And look at how many weeds there are! What did Jesus call them? “Children of the evil one.” You see them in the newspapers and on TV. Why, it’s downright embarrassing. Their conduct, their ethics, their morality couldn’t be any lower. And they’re out there committing all these shameful sins right there in front of God and everyone. There’s certainly no room for people like that in His Church.

And look at the world. The weeds are taking over. Evil’s on a rampage. This can’t be the kind of world God wants. It's tempting, isn't it, sometimes dangerously and tragically so, to desire a perfect world -- to think that if humanity only got its act together we could eradicate evil and create a world without imperfections. At least that’s what the politicians tell us.

How ironic that our very imperfections cause us to think this way, to turn the imperfect into the evil, while we hide the true evils behind a curtain of political correctness. Execute the criminals; abort the unwanted; purge the inconvenient; eliminate the undesirables; cleanse the world of the imperfect. These are the world’s solutions, not God’s. And so God orders us to refrain from judging and purging, for He has a different idea. What He tells us to do seems downright foolish; and yet He insists.

“No weeding,” He says, “not now. I will wait instead for the harvest, and then I will do the separating, not you. I will decide between wheat and weeds.

“But there are so many weeds in the world today,” we complain, “so much evil, right here, right now —can’t we do anything; can’t we do something?”

Go and sin no more...

And God says, “No. Only I can see into the heart of each man and woman; only I can ensure a perfect yield from the harvest.”

We’ve been given a different job. “Go make disciples of all nations,” he ordered his disciples. Until the time of harvest we are to preach the gospel of repentance to ourselves and to the world. And that, brothers and sisters, is hard for us to take. Why can’t we do some of that judging, that purging? Aren’t we the good ones, the holy ones?

Okay, maybe we’re not always that good or that holy. Maybe we don’t spend much time reading God’s Word or deepening our prayer life – assuming, of course, that we even have a prayer life. Maybe our faith isn’t always as alive and vibrant as it should be. Maybe our children and grandchildren, our neighbors and friends, haven’t always seen our faith witnessed in the way we live. Maybe we don’t spend much time and effort helping the hungry, the homeless, the stranger, the imprisoned. After all, I take responsibility for my problems; why can’t they? And maybe, well, maybe we ignore those Church teachings we don’t agree with, those teachings on faith and morals that are just downright inconvenient.

Oh, but we do attend Mass every week…well, most weeks anyway. That must count for something. Yes, Jesus’ teaching can be a real stumbling block for us, can’t it?

Much better and comforting to think that there are just two kinds of people in the world: the real sinners – you know, the ones you see on the covers of the supermarket tabloids – and the rest of us, those of us who hardly sin at all, or whose sins are small.

The bad and the good. The outsiders – that’s them – and the insiders – that’s us. Those who have the ears to hear and those who don’t. Those who will make it to heaven and those who won’t.

Yes, it’s easy to begin to think that way. And it’s a mistake that’s been made many times before. Back in the 4th Century there was a widespread heresy called Donatism that claimed that the good seed in this parable referred to the members of the Church, and so by definition there could be no weeds, no sinners, in the Church. They believed the Church could be composed only of good people; the rest of the world was simply evil. They were a bit like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time; and it took a St. Augustine to correct them, explaining that neither humanity nor the Church can be divided into children of light and children of darkness.

We still hear echoes of this ancient heresy among some Christian groups who preach a kind of exclusivity: “Are you saved? If you’re one of us, you’re OK...otherwise…”

St. Augustine, of course, was right. We all have both light and darkness within us – the good grain and the weeds growing together. The Church is really a kind of hospital, where we can be spiritually healed and made ready for our eternal journey. It’s a place where sinners grow and change by God's grace. That growth in grace may be agonizingly slow, like grain hidden in the soil. But in its slowness it imitates the patience of God. For Jesus teaches that there’s still time…there’s always time.

We just love to judge

I once read an article about a young gang member from a broken family — no role models, no education, no opportunities, no hope, no future. One fateful day, in a fit of uncontrolled rage, he fatally stabbed his social worker, the one person who was trying to help him. Convicted of murder, he was sent to prison for life. Now middle-aged, he’s repented, sought forgiveness from his victim’s family, finished college, and was baptized and confirmed. Subject to man’s law, he’ll remain in prison, but today he’s nothing like the violent young man he once was; and can no longer be counted among the weeds.

Who would have predicted this outcome? Nobody but Jesus Himself. Yes, the Lord turns all things to good for those who love Him.

And so, brothers and sisters, there’s good news for us in this Gospel — really good news. We won’t be struck by lighting the moment we sin, for God responds patiently and lovingly. How blessed we are that we can look back, recognize our past sinfulness, and be forgiven in the sacrament of Reconciliation. How blessed we are that God is patient, that He gives us time to change, time to make amends.

Yes, if we’re truly honest with ourselves and with God, most of us will admit that we were once weeds, and some of us that we’re still weeds. We try to hide our secrets, our sinfulness, because we’re ashamed of what we’ve done. We struggle to trust others because we can hardly trust ourselves. We play games with the truth, and too easily separate our words from our actions. And, yes, there are days when we slip back into our weed-like behavior.

The result? Quite simply, it’s hard to tell the wheat from the weeds, isn’t it? And if you look carefully, you can find the weeds in each of us. And so we remain sinners living among sinners.

But the time will come when the sorting of the weeds from the wheat will be absolute and final, harsh and decisive. And, dear friends, make no mistake about it: We will all be judged. But that judgment belongs to the master alone, not to the servants. God is in charge, not us, and His judgment is nothing at all like ours -- something for which we should all be grateful.

God is both just and merciful. He’s eager to forgive, and provide us with the grace we need to overcome our sinfulness and do His will in the world. We need only ask. Yes, He’s willing to wait for our repentance, to wait until the very last moment, for His patience is almost inexhaustible. And we can thank God for that.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.