Homily for the Week of July 20, 2008

HOMILY:
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008
Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-43 or 13:24-30

For the second weekend in a row we hear Jesus telling stories involving farming. They are intended to help us to see our own growth in the Lord. He uses what are called parables. Parables are stories that help us to understand our religion. Parables are short stories about good and bad, about how we are to change our life. There about 40 parables in the Bible. Most of these stories, like the three of the gospel which I just read, are based on farming, growing crops and cooking. But as we listen to these stories, try to imagine that at the time of Jesus there was an in-group and an out-group. With these stories Jesus is trying to tell us that there is only one group: the group that believes in God and is trying to do what God wants them to do. In the end it is God who will sort us out and welcome us into heaven.

Instead of teaching us how to plant a garden or bake bread, the parables show us how to be better Catholics and better persons. In the first parable the farmer sows good seed in the field, and after a time weeds sprout as well. So, why not get rid of the weeds? That is probably what most farmers and gardeners would do. But Jesus says: Let them grow together. God is the one who will make the necessary separation at the harvest time. Can't we see ourselves in that story. How often have you said to yourself: It is not what I want to do that I do, but it is what I do not want to do that I do? How can it be that when I want to be good I get temped to do something bad.

Could it be that at times we do not know which are the weeds and which are the wheat in our life? Certainly there are times when we do know the difference. But it is so easy to give in to a temptation.

In the story about the mustard seed we realize that great things can come from the smallest. Jesus makes a comparison between the size of the seed and the plant that can grow to be 10 feet tall. This is how God works in our life. At first we may not notice God. We become impatient. But if we keep on praying, God will come into our life. He will change it. He will bring us happiness, because it is only our faith in God and Jesus that can bring us true happiness. Jesus is telling us that we cannot judge the value of someone simply from what we see; their greatness is in who they are. We are all mustard seeds waiting to grow.

The story of the yeast reminds us again that things are not always as they appear. The tiny grains of yeast make the dough ferment, producing thousands of bubbles and making the bread light and airy. Yeast by itself seems insignificant, but by using it we experience its capacity to raise the bread. Like yeast, God will raise us up one day. As insignificant as we may think we are, we will be raised up to the glory of God.

How often do you read some serious articles on your faith or spirituality? A person would never get through school without reading, thinking about what they read and talking about it with friends or writing about it on tests. I am sure that a person who wants to be a qualified technician of any kind needs to be updated as technology changes. So too it should be with our faith and religion. We can not expect to grow spiritually by just standing still. It is then that the weeds will smother us, or the yeast will not find the proper flour for bread making.
Some may see this as hard work: the groaning that Paul talks about in our second reading. To be looking for spiritual answers; to know that we are not yet what we hope to be; to keep stretching beyond where we are; all of this may be called groaning.

Within ourselves too, as God's Spirit works, its positive influence mingles with many negative aspects of our own personalities. The good and the bad must stay alongside each other--just like the wheat and the weeds. One must tolerate the other, but the activity of the Spirit will encourage a good and fruitful harvest in the end.

Jesus is also telling us today that even in the beautiful side of life, where we are in harmony with God, there is always the possibility of evil-- like fraud, blowing away a good name, oppression of the poor by a greedy government and many others weeds that somehow get in with the wheat.
Furthermore, evil cannot be eliminated by destroying everything that appears evil. Rather, we have to work through a life that is not perfect, knowing that the evil that lurks in the weeds is a constant reminder of our fallen condition and that only Jesus can guide us to be on the right road.
All of these stories point us to our need to prepare ourselves every day as to be ready to enter the kingdom of heaven when we die. It is the same kingdom which we pray for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer: who art in heaven...thy kingdom come..on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, the future begins today; the heaven to which we hope to go some day begins today. Jesus, through three little stories, is trying to teach us that heaven must truly begin here in this life; here on earth. Jesus is also teaching us of God's forgiveness. He is telling us not to be less merciful and patient than God as we notice family members, friends, strangers and Catholics who don't always practice what they preach. Most of us can spot a hypocrite when we see one --unless it is ourself. How many of us have wondered why God couldn't have created everyone to be as wise and generous and perfect as we are? Wouldn't that be splendid?

Just as trees or any plant grows gradually day to day without noise and even notice, so too do the three stories about how goodness and spirituality grows in us. It is not the size that is important but the desire to change. But these stories also teach us that God's church has plenty of room for everyone. Jesus has opened his father's house to everyone including the indifferent and the imperfect.