Matthew 13:36-43

Jeremiah 14:17-22

Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13

Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.

His disciples approached him and said,

“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,

the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.

The weeds are the children of the Evil One,

and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,

so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels,

and they will collect out of his Kingdom

all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the Kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you know all things and are the Lord of history. You know how the world is a mixture of good and evil, of light and darkness, of saints and sinners. Bring me to a good end and help me overcome sin in my life so that I may truly be a child of your Kingdom.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus’ Explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds: When Jesus begins to speak in parables in the Gospel of Matthew, this marks a change in his teaching method. Jesus has met with opposition from the religious leaders (Matthew 12:1-50) and started to form his twelve Apostles as the new leaders of the new Israel. Jesus adapts his teaching to this new reality. Parables hide the mysteries of the Kingdom from the learned and the prideful (the scribes and Pharisees) and reveal the mysteries to the humble and childlike (his disciples). Jesus often speaks in parables to the crowds that follow him and then later explains the meaning of the parables in private to his disciples. We see this in today’s Gospel. After the crowds have been dismissed, the disciples approach Jesus and ask him to explain the parable of the wheat and weeds in the field. He explains that he, the Son of Man, is the sower of wheat, of good seed. The devil, the Evil One, is his enemy who sows weeds. The children of the Kingdom of Heaven are the good seed sown by Jesus. The children of the Evil One are the weeds sown by the devil. Jesus is revealing that good and evil people, saints and sinners, will coexist side by side in the kingdom of heaven.

2. The Final Separation of Good and Evil: In Peter’s house, which is an image of the Church, Jesus explains the meaning of his parable. Jesus reveals that only at the end of the age will bad weeds (the unrighteous) and good wheat (the righteous) be separated. Jesus speaks about sending out messengers and angels into the world at harvest time to collect the weeds and throw them into the fire. “The parable shows that even though the kingdom is dawning on the world, wicked and the faithful will coexist with it until the final judgment” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 181). While the wicked will be punished in the furnace of fire, the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Those who rise to eternal life will shine because they share in the light of Jesus’ glory. The image evokes Daniel 12:3, which foresees the day when the wise will be delivered from God’s judgment and shine forever like the stars. What are some lessons we can draw from this parable? First of all, we need to learn the lesson of patience. Wickedness will exist in the world and even in the kingdom of Heaven as it grows throughout history. We need to work to eradicate wickedness from our own lives and overcome injustices in our society. Second, there is a lesson of hope. The children of God the Father will be vindicated at the final judgment. Am I working patiently and persistently to eradicate sin, evil, and wickedness from my own life and from the community around me?

3. Why Have You Struck Us Down? In the First Reading, Jeremiah is encouraged by God to weep for Jerusalem, which is called the “virgin daughter.” Jerusalem is suffering because Judah’s spiritual leaders, tasked with religious instruction, have failed to impart true knowledge of God to the people (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, 43). Jeremiah responds to God by asking if the Lord has rejected Judah and why he has struck her down. “Jeremiah, still unwilling to abandon Judah to conquest and exile, prays again for clemency. This time he confesses the sins of multiple generations (14:20), begs the Lord to uphold his covenant with Israel (14:21), and acknowledges the inability of idols to bring rain (14:22)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, 43). The people of Judah are oppressed by Babylon and by the persistent drought. Jerusalem, the Daughter of Zion, needs to learn that the God of Israel and Judah – not Baal, the Canaanite storm god – controls the weather and the rain. The Lord permits his people to experience deportation and drought in an effort to bring them back to covenant fidelity. Has God permitted me to experience what it is like to be far away from him? Did this experience draw me back to God?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, teach me to be patient and merciful when I see evil in the world and in the Church. Do not let me become discouraged or give into despair. I will redouble my efforts to be holy with your grace and overcome my attachments to sin.

Living the Word of God: What are the weeds in my life that I need to uproot? Do I have any habits of sin that I have let grow too long? With what can I replace my bad habits?