Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus’ explanation of his parable about the weeds among the wheat is presented to us today for our reflection. Jesus identifies himself as the one who is the Sower of the good seed. The devil is the enemy who scatters destructive seeds and the weeds represent his followers. The harvesters are the angels who bundle up the weeds to be burned at the end of time. Weeds have always been present in the Church. A brief study of history will quickly reveal scandals throughout the centuries too innumerable to recount. The entire Old Testament is filled with scenes of violence, wars, deceit, and wrongdoing. Weeds have always grown alongside the wheat. The evils of our present society existed in one form or another in centuries past. We just learn about it much faster today. This is not to trivialize or excuse evil deeds, but it leads us to an important point that we learn from our first reading from the Book of Exodus.

After the incident of the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf, we hear that the Lord passed before Moses and cried out: “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin…” (Ex 34:6-7). He does not declare the guilty guiltless, nor does he fail to punish evildoers, but throughout all of the scriptures, one important theme emerges: our God loves us. He loved us so much that he sent his only Son to take on human form, to suffer, to die, and to rise again in order to save us from our sins. He loves the weeds as well as the wheat and gives each person the grace needed to transform his or her life. Let us take courage as we struggle with the reality of sin in our own lives. The words of the responsorial psalm give us great hope: The Lord is kind and merciful…For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness [merciful love] toward those who fear him” (Ps 103:11).

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB