Dear Friends in Christ,
For gardeners everywhere there is nothing more frustrating than weeds. They are pesky, resistant to efforts to kill them and unsightly amongst beautiful flowers and vegetables grown for the family table. Weeds also take considerable effort to uproot and remove. To have a successful garden, one must constantly be on the lookout for weeds so that weeds do not take over and choke out the garden itself.
Unsurprisingly, the problem of weeds has affected gardens and gardeners throughout the story of human agriculture. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us about the Kingdom of God using the analogy of weeds growing among wheat in a farmer’s field.
The Parable of The Weeds Among The Wheat is a teaching of Jesus on the existence of good and evil in the world. In the parable, the owner of the field prevents his servants from
uprooting the weeds present in his field in fear that in so doing, the servants will unwittingly uproot wheat along with the weeds. He is clear that the weeds should remain until harvest time when they will be properly dealt with. Sometimes we may wonder why evil exists at all. We remember that evil is the absence of good and often is the result of human freedom being used wrongly. God does not do bad to us to hurt us. Instead, unfortunately, we hurt each
other because we act without charity and selfishly in our relationships.
One of the main points of The Parable of The Weeds Among The Wheat is that at the end of time, when Christ comes again in judgment, evil will be dealt a final, conclusive blow. The truth about life and history will be made clear to all. What is good will be made clear as good and what is bad will be shown clearly to be bad. All will receive from God recompense according to how they have lived. God’s judgment on all will be final, definitive and truly just.
As we struggle with the existence of evil in the world, let us trust in God’s presence with us always. His love is the foundation of our being and is ever vigilant, acting in our best interest providentially in our lives. Let us have faith that God’s justice will reign in victory over the darkness and that in Christ, we have already won the victory.