July 23, 2017 — Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
WIS 12: 13, 16-19; PS 86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16; ROM 8: 26-27; MT 13: 24-43
Today’s readings remind us of the fact that it is God who guides us, and it is God who influences our decisions through the Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel is again a series of parables shared by our Lord Jesus to teach us and to explain Holy Scripture.
Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, which is relatively clear to us in terms of the facts. However, there is an important point within it that we must acknowledge. When the decision is made to allow the weeds to grow with the wheat, it is clear the separation will occur later, not at that moment. When the decision is made as to what will be harvested and kept and what will be destroyed, that is a decision made by God.
It is somewhat a reflection of another point made in scripture. Today’s Gospel comes to us from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 13; however, in just a few chapters prior to that (Chapter 7) we are told “Stop judging, that you may not be judged…for as you judge, so will you be judged.” There is no question that there are “weeds” among the flock, but it is not our place to identify them and sort them out. That is the work of God.
As Catholics and Christians we must take care not to be self righteous and judgmental. Before we call into question someone else’s walk with God, we need to scrutinize and take care of our own. Stewardship is what we do, not what we necessarily think others should do.
