For the Gospel reading today, we’re back in Matthew 13 for some more parable action. Jesus gives and then explains the parable of the wheat and the weeds. (Note: when you hear the reading at Mass, the explanation may not be read.)
This is where a man sows good seed in his wheat field and an enemy comes during the night and sows weed seeds. The man tells his servants not to pull the weeds, but that they would be separated at the harvest. Jesus explains that the sower is the Son of Man, the good seed the children of the Kingdom, the weeds are the children of the Evil One and Satan the one who sows them. At the end of time, the weeds will be thrown into the fire. “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.”
So, how does one know which is a weed? Jesus said, “all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.” This often makes me wonder whether I’m a wheat or whether I’m a weed. I suppose that at any given time on any given day, I could be one or the other. But I try each day to be more wheat than weed. And I believe that God honors the trying. So, even when I occasionally have some “weed moments,” I accept His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliaton, and He allows me to become wheat once again. Here’s to being wheat!
Father, forgive us for our “weed moments.” Thank you for taking us back, and allowing us to be wheat in the Kingdom. Amen.
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