Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 - Tuesday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 14:17-22 and Matt 13:36-43]Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field. He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age....[Matthew]
JULY 26 STS. JOACHIM AND ANN [Jesus' Grandparents]
The "problem of evil" is one that has challenged believers of all kinds since the beginning of time. For Judaeo-Christian believers the story of Adam and Eve and their fall from grace represents an effort to explain the origins of evil in the world. Human beings are subject to temptation and rebel against God and suffer the consequences. (This does not address the question of "amoral evil" which concerns natural disasters or personal disasters that are not the consequence of choices.) In the Gospel According to Matthew, the issue is one of belief and non-belief. The early church faced persecution from non-believers, including their own Jewish communities. Jesus' advice is to persevere and realize that efforts to eliminate certain evils may not succeed and matters will be resolved at the final judgment. The church has learned this lesson the hard way with such experiences as the inquisition in which anyone suspected of ideas contrary to the "official" statements were persecuted by church authorities. The use of "excommunication" throughout the history of the church shows the futility of such efforts.
Weed control is something all farmers and gardeners have to live with. Some of the chemicals commonly used can cause cancer! And efforts to pull up the weeds can result in uprooting the intended crops. Some weeds can look just like the crop! When it comes to preaching the gospel, we have to exercise prudence in weed control and realize that some things have to be left to God's ultimate judgment lest we do more harm than good. AMEN