By Fr. Earl Henley, MSC

The Temptation To Hopelessness—- Weeds And Wheat

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19    Matthew 13: 24-43

“You gave your children good ground of hope.”  Wisdom 12:19. Before we totally committed our life to Jesus we walked in the valley of hopelessness. Life, in general, seemed hopeless. To cope with this we would retreat to what we thought were rays of hope—our children, work, marriages, or a special activity. These rays of hope usually dimmed. In our Sunday Gospel Matthew 13: 24-43— The kingdom of heaven is like…..(Matthew 13: 31, 33-please note these lines). In his parable of the weeds among the wheat, Jesus confirms what we already know to be true: evil exists in the world. We see evidence of it all around us. Sometimes it even seems as if evil is winning out. Will the weeds eventually choke out the wheat and overrun the field of God’s kingdom? Jesus assures us that it will not. The fact is, by his death and resurrection, Jesus has already won the victory over evil. Someday God’s kingdom will reign over all the earth.

Meanwhile, how can we help its coming?

It is significant that after telling the first parable about the weeds and the wheat, Jesus tells two more parables about the kingdom of God. It is the tiny MUSTARD SEED that grows into a large bush (Mt 13: 31-32! ).  It is like the little YEAST that leavens the whole loaf of bread (13:33). These are hopeful/powerful images. God’s kingdom is not static. It begins in little ways and then grows and grows.

YOU have a great part to play in its growth! With every PRAYER, with EVERY ACT OF FAITH with EVERY GOOD DEED, YOU help build the kingdom on earth. Making time for prayer, worshiping at Mass, helping the poor, sharing your faith, reaching to a friend in need, speaking out for the defense of life —-in these ways and many more ways you can help in growing God’s kingdom, Yes, they seem like small things. But so are the MUSTARD SEED and that little pinch of YEAST. When we gave our lives to Jesus, we had “Christ in” us, our “hope of Glory” (Col 1:27). We knew that God had planned for us, “a future full of hope” (Jer 29:11). We also believed that this hope would not disappoint us (Rom 5:5).

So don’t get discouraged by the evil you see and don’t give up hope. Believe that your small acts of faithfulness really do make a difference. And taken together with other believers, they become a mighty force in choking out the weeds of the world.

Noshun Lovik- Peace-to you,