Daily Talk to Walk On

THE GOOD SEED AND WEEDS IN US: PROJECT GOODNESS!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

Matthew 13: 24 - 43

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24  Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 

25  but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 

26  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 

27  And the servants of the householder came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 

28  He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 

29  But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 

30  Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" 

31  Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 

32  it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 

33  He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." 

34  All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. 

35  This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." 

36  Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 

37  He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 

38  the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, 

39  and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 

40  Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 

41  The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 

42  and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. 

43  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. 

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED SUNDAY TO ALL!

The so-called “CRAB MENTALITY” that we Filipinos are very familiar with is fittingly described in this kind of outlook, “if I can’t have it, neither others will.” This kind of mentality creates the attitude of insecurity out of somebody else’s success or advancement and which will eventually lead to jealousy. There are those who would interpret the PCSO controversy that involved some of our Bishops to be a ploy of those who wanted to discredit and pull down the moral ascendancy of the Bishops who keep on challenging and opposing some plans and programs of the government. This view clearly interprets the “Pajero Bishop” controversy as a “WEED-SOWING” strategy that PULLS DOWN the authority and influence of the bishops on the people in taking a stand against some of the government’s stand or policies. And so there are those who are calling for the resignation of the chairperson of PCSO for sowing scandalous intrigue into the Church in creating the so-called “Pajero Bishops” through media blitz. Whether the call for resignation is reasonable enough, commensurate to the “pain and scandal” the controversy caused to the Church, it is not my call to make here.

The Gospel’s presentation of the parable of the Good Seeds and the Weeds provides us with a simple analogy of what happens to real life situation. One of the ways how the “crab mentality” works in pulling someone down is sowing intrigue that would create malice in someone’s good practice or good deeds. This parable only illustrates the reality that there are people who, for whatever reason or motivation, scatter a seed of harm, destruction or damage in someone’s turf. However, what is very interesting is the manner how the owner of the field protested to the suggestion of the servants of pulling out the weeds from among the growing wheat, for in doing so the wheat will also be uprooted. The owner of the field simply allows both the wheat and the weeds to grow together, for in the right time of harvest they will be separated and the weeds will be burned.

As far as farming is concerned, this parable might show the patience of a farmer longing for a rich harvest despite the presence of some weeds that would threaten the growth and quality of the wheat. This would also illustrate how God deals with those of us who become a “BAD INFLUENCE” to others by our bad examples or bad action directly done against anyone that cause them harm. The parable shows how God’s love is poured out to both the GOOD and the BAD, with the HOPE that the BAD will reform and change, while the good persevere in their goodness. The stress in the parable is not so much about the good seed being threatened by the weeds than the weeds being allowed to grow in the field. In other words, the parable invites us to see the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE God has for ALL of us SINNERS that he allows us to continue to receive the GIFT of LIFE each day despite of all our wrong doings just for us to renew and reform ourselves before the great harvest will happen.

At the personal level, we can consider ourselves as the field with both the good seeds and the weeds in us. It is therefore the challenge of the parable of the good seeds and the weeds to cultivate the seed of the “Word of God” and the “fear of the Lord” in our hearts to grow so that the weeds of “vices” and “love for the world” will not choke ourselves and not hinder us to bear manifold good fruits. To make ourselves fruitful, the parable of the MUSTARD SEED invites us to see the power of LITTLE GOOD ACTIONS done habitually will make us into a big tree that will become a source of shade for those in need of guidance, inspiration and refuge or rest. The word of God is already planted into our hearts. All we need to do is to let it grow slowly into a big tree of GOODNESS. In the same manner, the parable of the LEAVEN illustrates how the word of God planted in our hearts will be the dough that will make our habitual performance of good works grow unnoticed and will just develop into a solid character or personality of goodness and righteousness. The overall challenge then is to let the Word of God that is sown into our hearts to grow slowly, even unnoticed and at times being threatened by wrong doings and mistakes, transforming these mistakes and wrong doings into lessons to maturity in following Christ. In the context of the three parables, The Kingdom of God is no other than PROJECT GOODNESS!


For your personal comments, you can reach me through this email: sanolorenz@yahoo.com