Parable of the
wheat and the weeds
The parable of the wheat and weeds
24 He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom
of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed
in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went
off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds
appeared as well. 27 The slaves of the householder came
to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in
your field? Where have the weeds come from?
28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said
to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up? 29 He
replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot
the wheat along with them. 30 Let them grow together
until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the
harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles
for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn. (Mt 13)
Wheat and weeds are present
In us
In each person
In the Church
In the world of today
PATIENCE of God with us! He is
tolerant, he does not condemn us, he gives
us a chance because he hopes in us
Attributes of God
From 1st reading (Wisdom 12):
But though you are master of might, you
judge with clemency, and with much
lenience you govern us;
From Psalm 86
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, abounding in
kindness and fidelity.
Verbum Dei
spirituality
The perseverance
in the real following of
Jesus requires an
interminable patience
in the personal spiritual
process as well as that
of the others. The
patience is the fruit of
the true love of God,
and this love has its
roots in the real
humility.
Do not judge or condemn
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or
you, why do you despise your brother? For we will
all stand before the judgment seat of God (Rom
10:14)
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned. (Luke
6:37)
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of
the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious
fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it
receives the early and the late rains.You too must
be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the
coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain,
brothers, about one another, that you may not be
judged. (James 5:7-9)
Why does Jesus allow the weeds?
The Lord leaves them in us:
- To keep us humble
- To make us realize how
totally we depend on him
- How helpless we are to do
good without his grace and
power
St Paul accepts his limits
Therefore, I am
content with
weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions,
and constraints, for the
sake of Christ; for
when I am weak, then I
am strong.
(2 Cor 12:10)
Wheat or Weeds?
When wheat is a weed
St Ignatius and false consolations while
studying Latin new understadings of
spiritual things and new delights constantly
came to him so he found it hard to study
Latin and progress.
After some time though he saw that these
spiritual delights were actually temptations
from the Evil one. He then explicity went
against them and slowly he improved in
Latin (Fr Ramon Bautista, SJ, Schooled by
the Spirit, p. 70)
When weed is wheat
lay spirituality will take its particular
character from the circumstances of
married and family life, and that family
cares should not be foreign to that
spirituality (AL, no. 314)
A positive experience of family
communion is a true path to daily
sanctification and mystical growth, a
means for deeper union with God. ((AL,
no. 316)
Amoris laetitia, no. 316
Hence, those who have
deep spiritual aspirations
should not feel that the
family detracts from their
growth in the life of the
Spirit, but rather see it as a
path which the Lord is
using to lead them to the
heights of mystical union.
N.B.
Thomas Green calls discernment the
meeting point (or the intersection)
between prayer and action.
Not only that all is decided in prayer but
it is also discerned in action.
Time is Gods messenger said St Peter
Faber (and my lola told me that the
proof of the pudding is in the tasting!)
Reflection
1. Pray with the Gospel. What
attributes of God do you see?
2. Am I patient or making rash
judgments? To whom? Why?
3. Look at 2nd reading. In light of Spirit
can you detect some wheat that is
actually weed and vice versa
