God Covers All

Today’s gospel is a sobering reminder that the presence of evil is always among us. Side by side, good and evil, exist and grow. It is the theme of super hero movies, great novels, and epic poetry. The existence of one gives the other its purpose. Does that make sense? Free will is the gift given to us to choose the good or to choose the bad. God wants us to freely choose good, of course, but when sin entered the scene (through the enemy), the battle began and continues. The parable says, “The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow 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?’ ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest.’” I know that we, the “righteous”, want to rid the world of all the jerks, the rude, the ugly, the hateful, the more sinful than we, but today’s gospel tells us that we are not qualified nor called to this task. That is reserved for God and our only care is to grow. When we grow in the presence of God, that presence will change the atmosphere that we occupy and perhaps the weeds around us will be transformed by the change in atmosphere. Jesus does the saving and when we live from God, we will be the signs that point others to the Savior. It occurred to me that both the wheat and the weeds are covered in the same sunlight and rooted in the same soil. God covers all and God can make all things good and beautiful as well. If we uproot the weeds, we uproot their chance at becoming beautiful, useful, and good. 

So let’s let God be God and He will continue shining on all with the hope and the desire that all will make it to the harvest. Let’s not forget that sunflowers and dandelions and daisies and wildflowers are weeds. God’s mercy allows even the weeds to be redeemed. It is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 EX 33:7-11; 34:5B-9, 28

The tent, which was called the meeting tent,
Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp.
Anyone who wished to consult the LORD
would go to this meeting tent outside the camp.
Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise
and stand at the entrance of their own tents,
watching Moses until he entered the tent.
As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down
and stand at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses.
On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent,
all the people would rise and worship
at the entrance of their own tents.
The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face,
as one man speaks to another.
Moses would then return to the camp,
but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun,
would not move out of the tent.

Moses stood there with the LORD and proclaimed his name, "LORD."
Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,
"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,
continuing his kindness for a thousand generations,
and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin;
yet not declaring the guilty guiltless,
but punishing children and grandchildren
to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness!"
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O LORD,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people;
yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own."

So Moses stayed there with the LORD for forty days and forty nights,
without eating any food or drinking any water,
and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant,
the ten commandments.

Responsorial Psalm PS 103:6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

R.(8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and 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."