Inbox Inspiration: July 19, 2020: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A 
 

In today’s gospel parable, a farmer tells his workers not to pull out the weeds that are growing in a field with the wheat.
His reason is that sometimes the weeds and the wheat look alike.
And beyond that, the roots of the weeds may be intertwined with those of the wheat.
So, in trying to pull out the weeds, you may also pull out and destroy the wheat.
I see three lessons that Jesus us trying to teach us here.
First, don’t weed out one another.
Resist the human tendency to separate, divide, and exclude.
Sometimes religion and those who are religious can get into this.
Jesus calls us to be patient and give what looks like weeds the chance to grow into wheat.
Second, don’t call others weeds.
This is a dualistic approach which the best of our Catholic tradition has condemned.
Jesus calls us to a more unitive approach – seeing ourselves and others as one because, in fact, there is a mix of wheat and weeds in me and in all of us.
Jesus is patient with us in letting us grow, and he wants us to be patient with others.
And third, concentrate more on the wheat than the weeds.
Nourish the wheat, and eventually, there will be a good harvest.
God, in his own way, will take care of the weeds – that’s not our job to do.
So, act positively in promoting what is good – that is what we are to concentrate on.
Some good lessons from this simple agricultural parable that Jesus tells!
  
Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition of Inbox Inspirations, I am continuing at least for now these Special Inbox Inspirations on Sundays. I began these when the coronavirus pandemic began.