Wheat and Weeds - Plants can't Change, but People Can

Location: Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Luxemburg, IA) – 4 p.m. Saturday

                St. Joseph Catholic Church (Rickardsville, IA) – 6 p.m. Saturday

                Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church (Sherrill, IA) – 8 a.m. Sunday

                Holy Cross Catholic Church (Holy Cross, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday

Date: Sunday July 20^th, 2014 (16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19

Resp. Psalm: Ps. 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16

2^nd Reading: Romans 8:26-27

Gospel: Matthew 12:24-43 (OR Matthew 13:24-30 {short form})

FOCUS: Human nature is not “static” – people can change, and we can help them.

FUNCTION: Share your faith with your friends; invite others to come with you to Church.

            Some things just are what they are.  A cup, for instance, will always be a cup – it might get used to hold pens and pencils, or to drink out of, or to put grease in after cooking, or to water flowers and plants, but no matter how it’s used, it will always be a cup.  You can’t change a cup’s nature, no matter what you do with it, even if you break it – then it’s a broken cup.  But it will always be a cup. 

          By way of contrast, the more I’ve reflected on human nature, the more I’m convinced that we are not so “static” – we can be other than what we’ve been; there are lots of stories in the history of Christianity of sinners who became saints, of hardened criminals who become upstanding citizens, of good people who became bad, and of bad people who became good. 

          St. Paul, before he became St. Paul, was a Pharisee who persecuted the Church, but became a devoted follower of Christ and the apostle to the gentiles after meeting the risen Lord on his way to Damascus.  St. Peter, before he became St. Peter, was probably a rough-and-tumble fisherman, who maybe swore a lot, was perhaps not particularly religious, but who heard the call of Christ, was converted in mind and heart, and eventually became the first Pope.  St. Augustine, before he became the Saint we know him as now, was a womanizer who struggled with chastity, but who came to know the Lord through the reading of the scriptures and became one of the Church’s greatest teachers. 

          Stories like these abound in the history of Christianity.  They’re stories of conversion – stories of people who became something other than what they were.  These stories point out the possibility that people can become something other than what they’ve been; a person’s nature can change – they can go from being bad to becoming good, or from being good to becoming bad.  Unlike cups, our nature is not “static” – it’s “dynamic.”  We can change – we can be more than what we think or imagine.  Everyone can be more than what they think or imagine.

          I think that’s an important principle to keep in mind when we think about the Gospel reading this weekend.  In Jesus’ interpretation, the wheat are the children of the kingdom, while the weeds are the children of the evil one.  And in some sense, it’s true, but these are not and cannot be “static” identifications; and this is where the analogy breaks down – while literal wheat and literal weeds cannot change their natures, such that wheat becomes weeds and weeds become wheat, human beings and human nature can change.  Children of the kingdom could potentially become children of the evil one, and children of the evil one could potentially become children of the kingdom.  Human life is dynamic.  The people we call evil have the potential to accomplish great good; and the people we call good have the potential to commit great evil.

          If we are children of the kingdom – children of God – we have a duty to share the good news of the kingdom with the so-called “weeds” among us – those who do not know the love of God, who do not have a relationship with God, who are seemingly outside the communion of the Church.  In one of Pope Francis’ recent “tweets” on Twitter, he said, “The Church, by her nature, is missionary.  She exists so that every man and woman may encounter Jesus.”  That’s a good reminder that our essential vocation as Christians is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with whoever has ears to listen. 

          By our word, by our example, it’s possible that “weeds” could become “wheat” – by our word, by our example, it’s possible that people who do not yet know God might come to know, love, and serve Him; it’s possible that we could become the conduits by which other people come to know the love of God.  And what an awesome and exciting responsibility that is!

          This is why the Church exists – to proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom in our midst, to proclaim that God is love, to proclaim that salvation is possible in and through the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world.  And truthfully, sometimes we are downright failing at our mission. 

          We don’t challenge young couples – in love, of course – to refrain from living together before they’re married so that their marriage can be pure and holy; we don’t invite friends, neighbors, and family members who are away from the Church to come back and build a relationship with God; we don’t talk about our faith and the ways in which God has worked in our lives.  We keep God a secret; we don’t share the message of the Gospel; we’re more interested in “maintaining” the Church than we are in “growing” the Church; we fail at living as God’s hands and feet in the world around us.

          We need to get better at this.  There are souls at stake.  People could get to heaven a little easier if we talked about heaven a little more.  People could find the pathway to the kingdom if we showed it to them.  People could grow in holiness if we challenged them to do so.

          So let’s do it.  Let’s share our faith with our friends.  Let’s invite others to come with us to Church to hear the message of the Gospel.  Let’s ask a non-Catholic if they’ve ever thought about joining the Church.  Let’s be God’s hands and feet in the world around us.  With God’s grace, everything is possible.