Saturday, July 27, 2013
16th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
Ex 24:3-8
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told his disciples another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.
When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared. Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’
He answered them: ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him: ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them: ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
If it were more beneficial to exterminate bad people, God could have done it long ago. He did not. From today’s Gospel we know that He prefers good and bad people to coexist for their mutual benefit. On the one hand evil people generate spiritual growth among their prayerful victims. On the other hand by letting their faith shine in times of helplessness over evil, the persecuted ones stand as true witnesses and can even trigger conversions. The trigger isn’t a matter of course, though, for we can never underestimate the clout of the devil over the hearts of bad people. But our faith tells us that just as rain will not return to the heavens until it has watered arid lands so good works will always create an impact in the hearts of their beneficiaries.
We must clarify at this juncture that growing spiritually amidst persecutions does not mean passive submission. Passivity is a believer’s Achilles heel because in the tug-o-war between good and evil, the latter is better equipped in the art of treachery. Remaining passive is like putting one foot on the side of the adversary. Thus we do not turn the other cheek right away. First we strive to correct the bad using non-violent means in compliance with the Gospel mandate on fraternal correction. When all efforts fail, we know it’s the time to take up our cross and derive merits therefrom.
Having seen how the coexistence of the good and the bad can be made beneficial, we ask: who is good and who is evil? “To be good one must love evil people among whom he must include himself” (Nicholas Gordon). No one is righteous in the eyes of God. Before him we all need salvation. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.