Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 400

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 have heard that the wheat and the weeds in the Palestinian field were basically the same plant. The farmers through many centuries, perhaps by natural selection, had preferred the heavier grains of a native plant. The heavier grain may have fallen from the sheaves and flourished by the side of the path. The farmers then learned to prefer that wayside growth and cultivate it.

In any case, if Snidely Whiplash, for reasons of his own, planted weeds in our farmer's field, they were indistinguishable from the good seed. When the harvest came, threshers would sort them out. First they would beat the sheaves against the ground or something to dislodge the seed. Then they would pile the gathered stalks onto a flat surface, perhaps a wooden floor, and toss everything in the air. The wind would catch the stalks and wispier seeds and carry them away. The good, heavier seeds would fall to the floor and be collected for grinding.

Jesus uses this parable to teach us patience. There's a time for everything under heaven including times for non-judgement and for judgement. And God knows the difference.

We've all had experience of first impressions that proved to be wrong. A silent, aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy may be a prince of a fellow but socially awkward. An Aldonza may be Dulcinea to her Don Quixote, if only we had eyes to see and the patience to wait for that revelation.

During this time of intense division and political partisanship in the United States and many other countries, we should contemplate this parable. Under the intense gaze of television cameras and social media, reputations are sabotaged and careers destroyed by a photo, word, or gesture. People are quick to condemn. Close elections are determined by a last minute insinuation or suggested hearsay. Professional influencers skew words and images to serve their employers' desires, regardless of truth or the greater good. They can switch camps from Democrat to Republican and back again as readily as any English lord switched allegiance during the War of the Roses. When people hear what they want to hear, they hear nothing.

Jesus counsels patience and Saint James warns us not to judge anyone:

Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor? 

If this is "the Catholic hour," as some have suggested, when the message of the Catholic church is especially needed, I think our fellows must be reminded of Original Sin. The "weeds among the wheat" teaches us that evil pervades every aspect of our lives and we cannot sort it all out. Nor is there an answer to every problem. "There are no answers, there are only stories!" And, as actors in Salvation History, we try to discern where we are and what we should do next. What is my part? What does the Lord want me to do?

The same Holy Spirit might direct another to do just the opposite. (As, for instance, Catholics fought on all sides of World War II. I was baptized by a German priest who, according to legend, celebrated the Mass every Sunday on both sides of the trenches.)

How it will all be worked out we cannot, and need not, know.

We can be sure that no good end is justified by wicked means. No matter how well intended, certain actions are unconscionable. We don't judge those who do such deeds but we cannot support them. And we will be ready to pick up the pieces and ask the Holy Spirit to show us what to do next. "I told you so!" won't help. Forgiveness, compassion, patience, and mercy will.

There is only one Judge, as the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us; and -- Thank God! -- it ain't me.