Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 23, 2022
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him, ‘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.”’”
I am, by nature, a person who sees the world in black and white. Things are either right or wrong, good or bad, true or false. So, for me, it is easy to conclude that the wheat represents those of us on the path to eternal life with Jesus and the weeds are those that are not. And because I am well aware that I am a sinner, it’s easy for me to self-identify as a weed.
Fortunately, I have learned over the years that very little is black and white. The most devoted follower of Christ has weeds in their life. In turn, the seemingly most depraved person is capable of doing good. We are an amalgam of wheat and weeds. If we weren’t, we either would not need a savior, or we would be beyond saving!
In contemplating further, I’ve realized those weeds in our lives are often opportunities to grow. Doubt is an opportunity for faith, despair for hope, and selfishness for charity. And, of course, every weed in our lives is an opportunity for love.
How do we know we are on the right path, successfully pruning the weeds from our lives? I frequently turn to one of Thomas Merton’s most famous prayers, which goes in part like this, “… I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.”
Thankfully, our Lord cuts straight through the results of our fumblings and sees where our heart is and what our intentions are. I am confident that our efforts to prune the weeds from our lives are pleasing to God. We have only to listen and follow.
Prayer
You alone, Lord, know what is the wheat of our lives and what is the weed in our lives. Help us to be patient as the wheat and the weeds co-exist and grow together. Help us to trust in your work in our lives even when we don’t know which is which. Help us to entrust everything to your mercy until that day when you separate the weeds from the wheat. Help us to believe that you know what you’re doing and would never allow anything to harm us. We believe that you will turn everything into good in our lives. This we pray through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Bridget of Sweden, the mother and mystic known as the “patroness of failures,” pray for us!
Bridget of Sweden was a mystic saint whose visions helped guide the Church in the 14th century.
She was born in 1303 to a family that was related to the royal house of Sweden. Her father was a regional governor and a judge, and both of her parents were pious. They would receive the sacraments frequently and go on pilgrimages as far away as the Holy Land.
When Bridget was 10, her mother died. Along with two younger siblings, she was raised by an aunt who was just as faithful as her mother.
While she was still a young girl, Bridget started to receive visions, mostly seeing Jesus on the cross. She asked Jesus who had done this to him, and he replied, “All those who despise my love.” The vision left a deep impression on her and profoundly shaped her spirituality. She continued to receive visions throughout her whole life.
When she was 13, she was married according to the custom of the time, and the couple bore eight children. One daughter was eventually canonized as St. Catherine of Sweden.
She and her husband went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Her husband became dangerously ill on the journey, but was healed when Bridget received a vision from St. Denis, who told her that she would do great works.
The King of Sweden appointed Bridget as lady-in-waiting to his queen, and from this position, Bridget counseled the king and queen, as well as many priests and theologians.
When her husband became ill again, Bridget took him to a monastery for care. He died and was buried there, and Bridget remained at the monastery in a small room, praying and grieving. She prayed for guidance and received a revelation that she was to establish a new religious order.
She renounced her title as princess and her role at court, and was mocked for this decision. As soon as she had begun organizing the new order of nuns, she received another vision that directed her to go to Rome, to encourage the pope to return there from Avignon, France, where the papacy was located due to a conflict with the French crown. She spent the rest of her life as a pilgrim in Rome, writing of her visions and counseling kings and popes (she is sometimes known as Bridget of Rome). Her accounts of the revelations she was given in her visions and prayers were popular through the Middle Ages.
She did not see any of her major works completed—she left Sweden before the abbey she founded was completed, and she did not live to see the pope return to Rome. She is known as the patroness of failures, even though both of these endeavors saw success after her death on this date in 1373 in Rome.
The religious order she founded is still active today, known as the Bridgettines, and she is patron of Europe and of Sweden. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica, and she is also depicted in these stained glass windows there.
St. Bridget of Sweden, the mother and mystic known as the “patroness of failures,” pray for us!