St. Edward on the Lake, Lakeport, MI | DOWNLOAD AUDIO
July 20, 2014
Wis 12:13, 16-19; Rom 8:26-27; Mt 13:24-43
Today’s readings really focus in on the mercy of God and they teach us that as God is merciful to us, we must be merciful to others. As far as the Gospels go, we are in the section of St. Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus is describing the Kingdom of heaven to His disciples in the form of parables, and today we have three of those parables which tell us that one aspect of the Kingdom of heaven is mercy.
In the first reading, we have a number of key words that point to God’s mercy. The author of the book of Wisdom describes God as being the master of all things yet one who is lenient. He is one who judges with clemency or compassion. He is one who governs us with leniency. But the punch line is this: those who are just must be kind. Now we are the just not because of anything that we have done, but because God has made us just, and so we who have been justified by God must show that same mercy to others. How do we do that? First, by reflecting on all the ways we have sinned against God. Second, by reflecting on how God has forgiven us of all of our sins, especially through the Sacrament of Confession. Once we begin to understand how God has been merciful to us, we will be more able to show that mercy toward others because we have experienced it ourselves. That’s what being kind is all about. It’s not being nice. Actually, in my opinion, that word “kind” is a poor translation. I think a better translation would be “those who are just must be humane.” We must treat each other as humans by respecting their human dignity which comes from God. They have dignity because they were created by God out of love, and so all humans have a right to be loved with the love of God. This is what the mercy of God calls us to.
We are a society that judges very quickly and denies mercy even more quickly. We’re very quick to condemn others without giving them a chance to repent. But as St. Paul says in our second reading, God is the one who searches and knows hearts. Not us. Obviously if we see an injustice or a sinful act, we have an obligation to judge that as wrong. But only God can judge hearts. Only God can see within us the desire to repent. And we must entrust those who sin to God’s mercy. It’s why gossip is such a dangerous thing for us and something to be avoided. Sometimes, people might look at gossip as a form of entertainment or think that it’s “no big deal”. But it is, and if we are not careful, it could lead us to condemn others, which is the opposite of mercy. Better that we pray for those who have sinned against us. Pray for the conversion of sinners. It’s an act of mercy on our part and it’s how we can fulfill Jesus’s command to love our enemies.
Which leads us to this: Many people ask the question, “Why does God permit evil?” They wonder why God doesn’t just snap His fingers and make evil disappear. No more war, no more abortion, no more attacks on marriage, no more violence, and so on. “Mercy is for the weak,” they argue. Just wipe them out. And so Jesus gives to us today the parable of the man who sows good seeds and the enemy who sows weeds. The wheat and the weeds grow together. The argument is, “Why doesn’t the man who sows good seeds simply pull out the weeds?” It seems like a reasonable thing to do. Otherwise, the enemy is going to ruin all the good work done by the man who sows good seeds. To this, he answers, “You might remove the wheat along with the weeds.” The solution: let the wheat and the weeds grow together and when the time comes, the master of the harvest will separate the weeds from the wheat and burn them.
We are called by virtue of our baptism to sow good seeds in the world. Those seeds are the mustard seed which is a symbol of the Church which starts out small but grows into something huge. We are to sow the seeds of the Church in the world. We are called to pray, to be faithful to God, to witness to the message of the Gospel, and to defend the poor, the unborn, and all others who are defenseless. That’s what it means to be yeast. We’re supposed to make everything that is good rise. But as we do this, the evil one will sow weeds along side the good work that we do.
This coming Friday is the 46th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. If you haven’t read it yet, I would highly encourage you to do so. It’s not very long but it is so monumental. But it shows that as we try to sow the seeds of the Culture of Life, the devil is sowing the weeds of contraception and abortion. But rather than be discouraged by the difficult fight, we must continue to sow the seeds of life while fighting the culture of death and praying for the conversion of those who sow death. What we have to do is remember the words from the first reading: “you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” Jesus doesn’t snap His fingers because His mercy is patient and desires their repentance, and His mercy desires that we pray for repentance. We still do good and fight evil, but we also pray for the conversion of sinners. This requires patience and humility recognizing that the good work that we do is really God’s work. But we must always heed the words of Our Lord: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” May the Lord in the Eucharist give us the strength and patience to imitate His mercy to all we meet.
