Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

The man in Jesus’ parable, who takes the time and energy to sow good seed in the field probably had to fight discouragement when the crops grew and he noticed weeds appearing throughout his field. How frustrating it must have been to know that his hard work was contested and sabotaged by an enemy. The man’s servants thought that the field was completely ruined by the weeds and they wanted to pull it all up. This reaction is pretty normal for many people in the world—we encounter something that is displeasing or discouraging and we become overwhelmed by it. We want to give up. We see the evil in the world—the division, violence, corruption, a lack of compassion—and we wonder where God is in the midst of evil. For some people, the evils of the world lead them to give up their hope and trust in God.

We also encounter poor treatment from others—anger, control, or even the experience of when we put forth our best effort and are only met with jealousy or a lack of appreciation. Sometimes as a reaction or defense mechanism we are tempted to respond by becoming hard-hearted and closed in on ourselves and we don’t want to put ourselves out there again because we fear rejection. In such an exchange, the enemy has subtly and successfully immobilized us from responding to God’s grace and flourishing as a human person.

One very common area where we encounter the weeds among the wheat is in our own sinfulness. We become overwhelmed by our sins that we no longer see ourselves as beloved children of God. We fall on a downward slope of hopelessness and do not accept God’s mercy because we view ourselves as undeserving of it. Here too, within our own hearts, the enemy can keep us bound and weighed down because we are afraid to bring our struggles to another and receive mercy—we just keep them buried deep down inside, thinking that they will go away, when all they do is immobilize us. If we focus too much on the weeds or pretend they are not there, we become infiltrated by them and they start to increase and suffocate—sometimes even without our realizing it!

However, we are not passive bystanders in this world where we encounter good and evil. Our greatest response is to persevere in the grace we received from the day of our Baptism and to continue to nourish the faith in the Lord that prevents evil from taking root. We combat the weeds by patience, perseverance, and choosing to be good wheat, that is, deciding to love Christ and to commit ourselves to the conversion of heart.

Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB