July 26, 2016 Tuesday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jer 14: 17-22
Gospel: Mt 13:36–43
Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of time and the workers are the angels.“Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Like a doctor that binds the wounds of patients God wastes no time in extending compassionate love to sinners. This is not a one-time initiative. Sometimes it involves a lifetime of patient journeying with the sinner. “What wound did ever heal but by degrees?” wrote Shakespeare (Othello). If ordinary wounds take time to heal, spiritual wounds need even more time to recover. The parable of the sower showcases God’s patience with sinners. In this parable the servants proposed to the master the pulling out of the weeds from among the wheat. But the master said, “Let them both grow till the harvest” (Matt. 13: 30). The liberality towards the weeds was not solely for the protection of the wheat that could be pulled out accidentally in the process of clearing the ground. The liberality was, in fact, primarily an offshoot of God’s patience towards sinners.
God’s patience can involve a lifetime of patient journeying with the sinner. But there is a disturbing shift in the parable from liberality to sternness as the it ends with this warning: “Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time” (Matt.13: 24- 30). While God is compassion, let us not forget that he is also justice. If you are unrepentant you will not escape from punishment “until you paid the last penny“ (Matt. 5:26). God’s justice will work like this: “The servant who knows what his master wants but has not even started to carry out those wishes will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who does not know but deserves to be beaten for what he has done will receive fewer strokes (Luke 12: 47-48). – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM., MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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