In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus explains the parable of the weeds in the field.
Jesus makes it clear that the wheat and weeds would grow together. But in the end, they will be separated and the weeds will be burned up. This is, of course, not about weeds and wheat, but about people. "All who cause others to sin and all evildoers" will burn in hell. But here's the upshot: "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father."
All of this happens after the judgment - after we die. But how do we "shine like the sun in the Kingdom"? I submit to you that to shine like the sun in the Kingdom (heaven), we must first shine like the sun here on earth. When we allow the light of the Son to shine in us and reflect out from us to the world, then we can be counted among the righteous and shine like the sun in the Kingdom of our Father.
Father, help us to shine the light of Christ into the world today, that we may shine like the sun in your Kingdom to come. Amen.
As our churches remain partially (or completely) empty, it is critical to learn the faith. You can do it in a minute with A Minute in the Church, available at www.GusLloyd.com.
This is exactly what is missing today in our world. We are losing our “sparkle” and becoming indifferent to others when we should be finding out how we can help them. We need to get our wonderful sense of humanity back and share it with the world so they can point to our country and see a whole different “face”. No more Ugly American!