This Sunday we celebrate the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings encourage us in the church not to be disheartened by the apparently slow growth of the kingdom or by the presence of sinners in our midst or even by the presence of sin and weakness within ourselves. They remind us that the central role in the kingdom’s growth and development belongs to God and that the Holy Spirit is still active within both the church and the individual Christian. We, in our humanity, can not properly judge the fruitfulness of either the church or our fellow believers.
First Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
13 For neither is there any god besides you who have the care of
all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned;
14 Nor can any king or prince confront you on behalf of those you
have punished.
15 But as you are just, you govern all things justly;
you regard it as unworthy of your power
to punish one who has incurred no blame.
16 For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
17 For you show your might when the perfection of your power is
disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
18 But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
19 And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
And you gave your sons good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.
NOTES on First Reading:
* 12:13-19 This section comes from a portion of the Book of Wisdom where the writer is considering the power and mercy of God. Beginning at 11:1, he writes about God’s providence toward Israel during the Exodus. The writer holds that God uses the same things to punish their enemies and to benefit Israel. At 11:17, he begins a digression about the justice of God’s punishments. The reading is taken from this digression and is actually cast in the form of a prayer to God.
It emphasizes the forbearance of God and His clemency and leniency with sinners.
* 12:13 God is described as having the care of all. So He is the God of all and there is no other god before whom He must give an account.
* 12:14-15 These verses are not in the official reading but I left them in for completeness.
* 12:16 For God, might is the source of justice not the norm of justice as is often held by the wicked.
* 12:17 Pharaoh is an example of those who had disbelieved ( Ex 5:2; 10:16; 14:4,18).
* 12:18 Power includes both might and self control in its use.
* 12:19 God prefers the repentance of the sinner rather than the death of the sinner in his sins (Ezek 33:11).
Second Reading: Romans 8: 26-27
26 In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. 27 And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
NOTES on Second Reading:
* 8:26 Paul now brings up a third indication that we are destined for a fuller and more glorious life. Even when we don’t know how to pray because of our human weakness, the Holy Spirit, Who was given to us and is within us, prays with a language beyond speech. The significance of this statement goes far beyond the simple fact of prayer in tongues or charismatic prayer empowered by the Holy Spirit. It provides a view of prayer as far more than just the presentation of words or ideas to God but rather it provides a profound involvement of the believer in the life and dynamics of the Trinity as the Spirit intercedes with the Father for us.
* 8:27 The phrase, “One Who searches hearts” is an Old Testament designation for God that is used in 1 Sam 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; Ps 7:11; 17:3; 139:1. The last phrase probably means that it is God’s will that the Spirit have such a dynamic role in the life of the believer rather than that the Spirit prays for things according to the place of those things in the will of God.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:24-43
24 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. 27 The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
31 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'”
33 He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, 35 to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
(of the world).”
36 Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
NOTES on Gospel:
* 13:24-43 This reading consists of another agricultural parable and an allegorical interpretation of the parable. Matthew placed two shorter parables and a brief statement about the use of parables in between them.
* 13:24-30, 13:36-43 The point of the main parable of the reading is that God will take care of separating the just from the unjust. Because human beings are not able to properly perform this task, it must wait until the judgment of God. As traditionally understood this parable has no parallel in any other Gospel. However, in recent years more and more scholars are recognizing this parable as Matthew’s retelling of the parable of the seed growing secretly in Mark 4:26-29. Matthew extends the element of mystery in the growth of the kingdom to the point that the fruit and the weeds in the kingdom are difficult to tell apart and we must wait for God to separate them in His time.
The need for tolerance, patience and acceptance of God’s judgment was the point that Matthew was trying to make to his community. The Church was then, is now, and always will be made up of both saints and sinners. God waits and allows ample time for His grace to affect the conversion of sinners. The disciples must wait for God to complete His work of conversion in the less perfect members of the community. Final judgment must always be reserved to God.
* 13:25 The word that is used here is sometimes translated as darnel, tares or cockle.
* 13:26 God shares His life with both the good and the bad.
* 13:27 The slaves who represent those whom the householder (God or Christ) has tasked with the care of the fields are scandalized that there should be weeds in the field with the wheat. The householder tells them to leave the two together until harvest time.
* 13:29 Darnel is nearly indistinguishable from wheat when young.
* 13:30 Harvest is a frequent Biblical metaphor for the time of God’s judgment. See Jer 51:32, Jl 4,13; Hos 6:11.
* 13:31-33 Both of these very short parables have the same point. They contrast the incredible growth and fruitfulness of the Kingdom of God with the very small beginnings as seen by Jesus’ disciples.
* 13:32 Birds is probably a reference to Daniel 4:7-9, 17-19 where they represented the people of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.
* 13:33 This is one of very few places in the scriptures where leaven is used as a positive image. Usually is represents sin or corruption. Three measures of flour is a huge amount. It would feed a hundred people.
* 13:35 The quote is from Psalm 78:2. In contrast to 13:13-15, this statement focuses on the revelatory nature of the parables told by Jesus rather than on their mysterious elements.
* 13:36 From this point on in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus focuses less and less on preaching to the general crowds and He focuses more and more on teaching His disciples.
* 13:37-43 Jesus’ explanation of the parable reminds us of God’s forbearance with sinners. It also encourages us when we discover sin and weakness within ourselves. God is still working toward the perfection of our conversion. Let us not be discouraged but look to God’s patience as an encouragement and make use of the grace He gives us as we open ourselves to His love more and more. We are all still disciples under construction.
Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)