The context: Today’s Gospel text is Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the wheat and weeds.  This parable teaches us that a very patient and compassionate God is hopeful that the so-called “weeds” among us will be converted, and that we should not be in a hurry to eliminate such elements from the Church, society, or the family, on the basis of unwarranted and hasty judgment.

Through the Parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus assures us that we are the field of God.  We are the ground Jesus works, as well as the seed Jesus plants, and the seedlings Jesus nurtures.  We are the people upon whom Jesus rests his hopes, and the folks in whom he plants the seed — the Word of God.  We are the congregation He anoints with the Holy Spirit.  In today’s parable, Jesus shows us a wise and patient God Who allows the good and the evil to coexist in the world, so that the ones who do evil may come to conversion before their time ends, and He must punish them:  “Let the seed and the darnel grow together till the harvest time.”  In other words, God awaits repentant sinners, giving them the strength to acknowledge their weakness:  “God’s delays are not God’s denial.” God calmly recognizes that there is evil in the world,  but He sees that evil as no excuse for the good people who have God’s grace at their disposal not to do good.  Through the Parable of the wheat and the weeds in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be patient with those who, as we see them,  fail to meet the high ethical standard expected of a Christian. If we don’t spend all our time wondering why there is so much evil in the world, we will have more left for wondering why there is so much good!

Life message:  1) We need to practice patience.  We need to be patient with ourselves and with others, especially those who annoy us and those who offend us. Let us patiently and lovingly treat the “weeds” in our society as our brothers and sisters and do all in our power to put them back on the right road to Heaven, especially by our good example and our fervent prayer for their conversion.