“DIDJA KNOW?”
by: Deacon Paul Rooney (deaconpaul@cox.net)
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Cycle “A" – July 17, 2005)

Q. 328:   Weeds can be damaging; why does the Owner in the Gospel story (Mt 24-30) let them remain until the wheat harvest?

A. 328:   That is exactly where our focus must be: on the Owner.  This is his farm; this is his crop; he sowed the seed; ask yourself: why is he so patient with the weeds?

I think it is true that each one of us have been both “weeds” and “good wheat” during our lifetime.   When we listen to God’s gospel word that is sown in our hearts, and then act upon it, we bear good fruit.   But when we stray from God’s word or ignore it, we inevitably sin, and we become as useless as “weeds.” But thank God for his patience!!  He does not treat us as “weeds” to be destroyed, as we deserve, but patiently waits for us to repent, to “change” back into wheat.   Over and over he gives us chance after chance to amend our lives.

The Church is for sinners, and we all acknowledge that we are sinners.   Or, do we? Perhaps we instead “rank” ourselves on a scale of goodness that is always weighed in our favor?   When we tend to “judge” others in this world, with a “proud” stance of moral superiority, it can be good and very humbling to remember the many times that we, too, were obviously “weeds” that deserved to be eradicated.   We need to hold up our “mirror of personal history” to keep the record straight, and our hearts open.   Did you ever consider that simply by your daily good example, you can be a turning point for someone else, a “seed” that can take root in their hearts and result in interior change?

Maybe we need to “hug a weed,” i.e., show the morally marginalized that they are still loved as one of God’s creation -- an acknowledgement that no matter how bad they have been, they are “brother” or “sister” to us.   There is always a chance to “turn back,” before the final harvest – thanks to a patient harvester.

Know Your Catechism!  The Church “clasps sinners to her bosom” and is always herself in need of purification; all members must acknowledge that they are sinners (CCC#827). In everyone, the “weeds of sin” will still be mixed with the “good wheat of the Gospel” until the end of time (ibid.).  Because of our weakened human nature, the struggle of conversion will be a daily effort until the day of our death (CCC#1426).

Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha