Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew 13:36-43)

Today’s explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds can be read as a commentary on Jesus’ command, “’Do not resist evil.’”  At least as much as evil does not cause harm to the innocent, Jesus wants his followers to tolerate it.  He indicates in the parable that the reason for non-resistance is that the innocent will suffer when evil is resisted.  The parable also makes clear that God, at the end of time, will sort the good from the bad.  He will reward the former for their virtue and punish the latter for their vice.

Examples are not hard to find.  The Church now teaches that the death penalty is no longer helpful.  It was tolerated for ages as the state acted in the place of God to protect its people.  But that substitution has always been open to abuse.  Now the Church recognizes the possibility of successfully incarcerating criminals to protect the public.  Another example of an evil that is tolerated for a time is the restrictions imposed in face of the novel corona virus.  Some resent having to stay at home and wearing facemasks in public.  The state imposes this kind of evil to fulfill its responsibility of keeping people safe.  Regarding pandemic restrictions, the imposition, gratefully, should not last very long. 

It is possible that not resisting evil makes us both stronger and more sensitive people.  We learn humility when we submit voluntarily to others’ will.  We also better understand the much greater deprivations people like refugees must endure.  The key to reaping such benefit is closeness to Jesus.  We join in his suffering for the good of all.  We also find strength from the bread he gives us to bear our cross. 

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew 13:36-43)

According to a non-canonical gospel Joachim and Anne are the parents of Mary.  Nothing is known about them with certainty, not even their names.   Of course, Mary had to have parents.  Because she is so saintly, it is likely that her parents were good people.  They may serve as a model for the good seed in today’s gospel.

The passage explains the parable of the wheat and the weeds.  The good seed produces a brilliant harvest.  After the weeds have been picked and discarded, the harvest appears as glorious as gold.  Such are the lives of the good.  They may be as humble as dirt, but whatever they do bears the fragrance of love for others.

This feast of Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, provide us an opportunity to reflect on the role of our grandparents in our faith development.  Some of us have had the blessing of pious grandparents caring and praying for us.  Often enough our grandparents, chastened by experience, have demonstrated a sure and steady faith.  Their peace has challenged the presumption that the world is necessarily becoming wiser and happier.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Exodus 33:7-11.34:5b-9.28; Matthew 13:36-43)

Years ago a movie entitled “The Bad Seed” showed an eight year-old girl twice committing murder.  It turned out that the child was the natural daughter of a serial killer.  The movie along with today’s gospel, which could be given the same title, begs the questions: Is the doing of evil predetermined by factors such as nature or, to take the contrary position, environment?  Or does each human person have a free will to choose right from wrong?

In the gospel Jesus uses a parable to illustrate why God allows evil to exist in the world.  He is not giving a philosophical discourse on its origins.  As the world knows, good and bad populate the earth simultaneously.  Jesus is saying that God allows the coexistence in order that the good may not be harmed in an attempt to eradicate evil.  But, he assures, in the end the good will remain and the wicked will be consumed. 

As research continually shows, both genetics and environment affect how we behave.  Yet there is a core choice that each person makes that supersedes these tendencies.  Those inclined toward aggressiveness can choose reconciliation.  Those raised in households virulent with lies can opt for the truth.  Christ will determine at the end of time the extent of each person’s achievement.  Our task is to pursue goodness as best as we can and to set example for others.

Homilette for Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 33:7-11.34:5b-9.28; Matthew 13:36-43)

A Catholic man plans to marry outsider the Church without permission from his bishop. His mother is worried that he is committing a sin. But, she says, God wouldn’t condemn him to hell for that. Is the mother thinking correctly?

Of course, we are not to say who is ultimately condemned and who is saved. But it does look like the man in question is guilty of failure to act in an important matter. In any case, we must take care not to instruct others that ignoring Church teaching or transgressing divine law is readily excusable. In the gospel today Jesus makes clear that those who cause others to sin are as guilty as those who perform reproachable acts.