First Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Responsorial Psalm: 85(86)
Second Reading: Romans 8:26-27
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43
Today
marks the 16th Sunday in Ordinary time Year A. It is also marked
with the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, recently instituted by the
Supreme Pontiff on the fourth Sunday of the month of July. Today’s readings are
focusing on the care and growth of each Christian.
The Story of the Two Wolves
An old Embian
chief sat down to teach his grandson about life.
“There’s a fight going on inside me,” he tells the
young boy, “a fight between two wolves.”
“One wolf is evil. It’s full of malice, anger,
greed, self-pity and false pride. The other is good. It’s full of peace, love,
joy, kindness, and humility.”
“This same fight is going on inside you and
everyone else on the face of the earth.”
The grandson was quiet, pondering this revelation
for a moment before asking, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”
The old man smiled and replied, “The one you feed.”
The
care of the seeds
Every farmer’s
goal is to harvest what they planted. From seedlings into the nursery to the
farm, the farmer takes care of them till harvest. In order to make His audience
understand the Kingdom of God, Jesus uses parables together with the day-to-day
activities. His mercy and love are in the care of His seeds, despite growing
together with the weeds. He spares the weeds, which is the evil in us making us
sin and gives them time to grow. He is patient and tolerable until the final
sorting. Good and evil cannot be separated, they have to grow up together. The
line separating good from evil does not pass in the space between the
individuals or between groups, or between nation: it passes within the heart of
every person. Anybody who does evil is not building up one’s life but ruining
it. Good and evil exist within each
of us. It’s our responsibility to own that reality and do whatever we can to
nurture the good.
The
spirit therefore ought to come to the aid of a sinner to help with the
repentance of sins, so that in the end we may join with the acclamation, ‘May
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind, so that we
can see what hope his call holds for us.’ By God’s grace, the yeast will rise,
and the plants will grow. Leave judgement to God, whose time is not our own.
II Year Theology
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