I do a lot of weeding! Where do they come from! I feel empathy for the man in today’s Gospel who says about his weed-choked wheat field, “An enemy has done this!” The growth images of last Sunday are present again this Sunday in three parables that Jesus tells. In the first, wheat survives the weeds that grow with it and is successfully harvested. In the second, a little mustard seed grows into a large plant. And in the third, a bit of yeast added to a lot of flour leavens the whole thing. But Matthew puts the wheat and weeds parable, found only in his Gospel, first because he considers it most important. And the most important part of the story is when the farmer’s slaves ask him if they should pull up the weeds growing in the wheat. But the farmer says no, let them grow together, lest accidentally some wheat gets pulled up with the weeds.
When Matthew’s Gospel was written, Jewish converts to the new Christian faith constantly rubbed shoulders with Jews who had not converted and sometimes were hostile toward “those Christians.” Well, of course, all these years later we also rub shoulders with people who do not nurture the good in us or in the world around them. In everything from our personal lives to the international order, a violent action, “pulling up the weeds,” is likely to cause collateral harm, as we know. The inner work we do to accept and love the difficult people in our lives, and to work through difficult situations, is often where we meet God and grow to maturity, like that weed-choked wheat did. The Gospel then continues with the other two parables, simpler ones: The mustard seed and the yeast testify to the expansive power of God’s goodness, truth and beauty in creation. So we don’t need to worry about getting wiped out by those weeds! All three parables are stories about invincible growth because of the goodness of God that operates in all situations, in all of creation.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post July 19, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Weeds: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.