Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 23, 2023
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
“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.”‘”
He proposed another parable to them.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'”
He spoke to them another parable.
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.
Then, dismissing the crowds, he 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.
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.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Silence speaks volumes. Jesus unpacks only one of the parables today—he says he has sown many who seek the kingdom of God in the world. But the devil prowls about, sowing seeds of deceit in hearts for the ruin of souls. And some follow him.
But how does this relate to the second parable?
Wheat must be ground into flour and leavened before it is made into bread. When we strive for the kingdom of God, we, like wheat, are also ground: “Blessed are you when people revile you … because of me.” (Jn. 12:24) Most importantly, though, we must receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. Like leaven, he makes us rise into a heavenly loaf.
But there is another way to look at this parable. Our responsibility and joy as those who know God is to leaven the world around us. This privilege falls particularly to those living lay vocations (see Post-Synodal, Apostolic Exhortation from Pope John Paul II Christifideles Laici).
In our lay vocations, we leaven our communities, drawing more people to the kingdom and helping the kingdom of God expand as yeast makes bread dough expand. We are peculiarly situated to build up the kingdom of God. By living out the love that Christ has shown us in calling us friends, by always being ready to give a reason for our hope, and by witnessing to the truth planted in our hearts, we become God’s yeast, making his kingdom rise.
Will some still choose evil? Christ will be the judge of that. But if we are truly children of the kingdom of God, our privilege as lay Catholics is to do our little part to build up that kingdom, one soul and one community at a time.
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.