In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus gives us a valuable lesson with his parable about the “weeds among the wheat.” After a man sowed wheat in his field, an enemy came and sowed weeds all throughout the wheat. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The servant asked the master, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’'”
One of the most difficult things in life is putting up with evil, especially when it directly affects us. None of us enjoys a nasty neighbor, especially someone who is inconsiderate of those around them. We might first try to approach them to talk about our concern, but getting rebuffed with a caustic response can be disheartening. If, for example, they have raucous late-night parties, we might report them to the police for disturbing the peace. We might report them to the neighborhood association for violating the various aspects of the neighborhood covenant, but that risks the threat of their retaliation.
In the gospel parable, the servant offers to go and pull up the weeds, but the master explains that pulling up the weeds might also uproot the wheat. As much as we would like to “deal with” those who are causing problems around us, the Lord counsels us to take care not to “make matters worse.” This is a difficult course of action to follow because we would like to get rid of the problem rather than have to live with it. Yet living amidst others who have different values, who may be inconsiderate at best and even target us to provoke us in some way, can be truly wearisome.
This living with ‘weeds among the wheat’ idea might be applied to various contexts in our lives, but one of the most difficult aspects about this is what might be called “delayed justice.” In the end, the Son of Man “will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” The challenge for us is one of faith. Do we believe in divine justice? Are we able to persevere with injustice around us because we believe there will be an accounting for all that happens in this life?
At the same time, it would seem that to live with “the wicked and all who do evil” would diminish us in some way. Doesn’t it weaken us to have to put up with the bad as we try to be good? Why would the Lord “put us through” so many difficulties from others in this life? Oddly enough, adversity makes us stronger. No matter what it is, an easy life produces weaklings. To persevere through adversity strengthens our moral character, our reliance on God and not on ourselves, and makes us appreciate divine justice in the end. It is not that God wants us to suffer, but that he wants us to build up our confidence and trust in him.
Jesus said, “know that I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Jesus is never not with us. And St. Paul tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) The fact is whatever stretches our faith makes us stronger, more dependent on God and more confident in him.
Through all that we go through in life, if we go through it in union with Jesus, it keeps us united with him. Jesus often said, “The Father and I are one.” (John 10:30). Praying into our challenges, just as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, brings his strength to our faith. And as St. Paul writes to the Philippians, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
So, what are the weeds in your life? How are you challenged to deal with difficulties, hardships, adversity, especially that come to you from others – perhaps co-workers, neighbors, or family members who seem to make life difficult? Perhaps we “vent” about them to others, “blow off steam” and even assassinate their character because there is nothing more that we can do. Rather, we might instead ‘do a spiritual number on them’ by fasting and praying for them, talking to the Lord about it more than complaining to others. Investing spiritual capital into the situation with faith in God’s justice will surely do more for both us and them than we ever imagined.
Living with “weeds among the wheat” is not easy, but it might bear great spiritual fruit for us personally, as we put all that concerns us before the Lord. I’ve said it before in these weekly reflections but one of the pastors I was assigned with as a young priest, when asked what he has been up to, would always say, “Just provoking others to heaven.” In the end, the Lord will deal with the weeds, but hopefully along the way, we will grow in faith, hope and charity, and be better prepared for heaven because of God’s grace at work in the process that is our life with others upon this earth.
