16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 19, 2020)
Wisdom 12:13,16-19
Psalm 86:5-6,9-10,15-16
Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-30
When I was going to Chiropractic College in Iowa, there was a lilac garden at a local city park. It was beautiful… for about one week out of the year. Lilacs are one of those flowers that are very pretty and fragrant but only bloom once a year for about a week. Then the flowers fall off and it’s just a big bush with green leaves.
My wife also loves lilacs so naturally, when we moved into our house in 2004, I planted two lilac bushes in the back yard. Year after year, they would grow bigger and bigger. And every year, for about one week, Angie would cut the flowers and put them around our house in vases. Our house was filled with purple lilacs and smelled amazing… for one week.
Over the past few years I noticed one of the lilac bushes wasn’t doing as well. It still seemed very green and full but was producing fewer and fewer blossoms each year. So last season, while it was starting to bud, I went out to investigate it further. I then noticed that about 40-50% of the plant was not even a lilac bush at all. Somehow, a “sucker” got it there and grew right up the middle of the bush.
It had gotten so big because it’s green leaves looked a lot like the leaves of the lilac bush. It blended in very well. I had to wait until all the lilac blossoms had bloomed, then one by one, cut off the branches that were without blossoms. I eventually had to carefully dig out the roots of the sucker plant that grew along side the lilac bush.
The cool thing was, once the sucker plant was removed, the lilac bush began to flourish again. This past year was probably the biggest harvest of lilac blossoms we’ve had and it allowed us to once again, fill up our house with the smell of lilacs for one great week.
It’s funny how some things can grow right under our noses, without detection. We can get very comfortable in our daily routine and not even notice an outside negative influence has camouflaged and inserted itself right in the middle of our lives… slowly draining us. The scary thing is that if we allow this negative influence to remain planted and grow, it can steal our light and make us wither and slowly die.
This is one of the main messages in today’s Gospel parable about the wheat and the weeds. Both the wheat and weeds, when very young, can grow side by side almost undistinguishable from each other. It isn’t until the wheat crop bears fruit that one can distinguish it from the weeds.
At that point, today’s parable gives us two options. Option one is to come in with a heavy hand and tear out the weeds. This can be tricky because both plants grew up closely together and some of their roots are intertwined. So to pull one will result in possibly pulling out some of the other.
Option two involves more patience. Allow both plants to grow… carefully watching… slowly waiting. Waiting for just the right time when the wheat is mature and strong enough to hold it’s ground. It is then that the weeds can be separated and safely pulled out by the roots.
In today’s parable, Jesus is telling us to try for option #2. You see, God loves us and doesn’t try to force Himself on us. He doesn’t rule us with a heavy hand. Instead, He gives us time and space. Hopefully just enough to allow us to see our own negative ways, our own negative habits… change them… and follow Him
The hard truth is that if we don’t try to change, or worse if we refuse to change, God will sort it out in the end on our judgment day. That is why Jesus tells us in the parable, “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.’”
So pay attention. Pay attention and try to avoid bad seeds from being planted in your life. This in itself is extremely difficult because bad seeds can be camouflaged to look like good ones. Or in the case of today’s parable, the bad seeds could be sown without one even knowing it because it was done in secret. But it’s hard to avoid or ignore the fruit one bears come harvest time. The phrase “actions speak louder than words” comes to mind because it is so very relevant and true.
The hardest part about following the message of this parable is when you see a negative influence affecting others. When you can plainly see weeds surrounding your loved ones, but they can’t see it… it’s hard. We naturally want to help others. We want our family and friends to reach their full potential. But many times, people don’t want to change or don’t see the harm that is happening to them. That is when a strong prayer life is extremely important. Pray and try to be a positive role model in their life. Hopefully, over time, they will see the weeds and change.
But as for us… do not allow negative influences to dominate our life. Do not allow negative voices to convince us of our self worth. Do not allow negative people to dim our light. Pay attention and stay awake. As stated before, this takes a strong prayer life AND frequent visits to the confessional to be successful.
It’s hard to get rid of the weeds 100% of the time.
So always, always leave ample time for prayer, confession, and the Eucharist.
These are the things that help us stand tall and grow strong roots.
These are the things that help us walk closer with God. These are the things that will get us ready come harvest time.