In the first parable we read today in Matthew 13:24-43, the Master of the field is the Son of Man—Christ.
I was reading some commentary on this passage from Fr. Simeon and he pointed out that the servants are panicked over the weeds that have been sown in the field alongside the wheat. They want to rip everything up, even the good wheat.
But, the Master is calm and doesn’t share in their panic. “Let it all be,” he basically says. “The weeds will get dealt with.”
One of the hardest things for us to understand as followers of Christ is why He allows for evil. It even causes some people to never become Christian because they can’t understand why God doesn’t just wave His magic wand and make everything perfect.
He did once in the Garden, but He also gave man free will to reject or chose Him. Our decision to love God must be a free will choice or it wouldn’t really be love, it would be programming.
Anytime we reject God through sin, evil happens. God allows it because He respects our free will. Will there be consequences for our rejection? Sure. Anytime you choose bad over good there will be negative consequences. Why would we expect otherwise?
In the parable today, we see that the wheat can grow up amongst the weeds and still be fruitful and strong. As Christians, there is no escaping the evils of the world. We must find ways to grow as saints in a fallen world.
We see in today’s Gospel that it is possible. With God and all the helps He gives us, it is more than possible. He gives us the Sacraments, Mass, sacramentals, relationships with the angels and the saints in Heaven, each other, and His unwavering love.
We have everything we need, Catholic Pilgrims, to be good wheat even when weeds seek to choke us out.
Have a blessed Sunday.
*St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Montgomery, Alabama
