Sixteenth Sunday – Year A – July 19, 2020
Readings: Wis 12:13, 16-19; Rom 8:26-27; Mt 13:24-43 (or 24-30)
“The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (Mt 13:37)
Prologue: Today’s gospel contains the ‘growth parables’ referring to sowing and growing, wheat and weeds, seeds and trees, yeast and dough. The focal point of all these parables is the ‘kingdom of heaven’ with its element of the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’. The process of the kingdom growing into its fullness depends totally on God who sows, allows everything to grow, and is the final reaper.
Three Signposts from Scripture:
- Growth of the good with the bad: The parable of the ‘weeds among the wheat’ appears only in Matthew’s gospel, taking the place of ‘the seed growing secretly’ in Mark’s (4:26-29).
Jesus is, quite literally, a ‘son of the soil’ who conveys heavenly messages about God’s reign in down-to-earth idiom. The householder or sower—referring to God, really—sows good seeds. However, “while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.” (v.25). The poisonous weeds—‘darnel’ or lolium temulentum—grow widely and wildly in Palestine. However, until the ears appear, the most experienced eye would hardly manage to distinguish its blades from those of wheat. Thus, there was the early possibility of mistakenly weeding out wheat instead of darne.
Nonetheless, after a while, harvesting would be quite simple, for wheat grows higher than darnel; so, could easily be cut first. Knowing this, the sower allows the good to grow with the bad, just as God tolerates villains to thrive with the virtuous. However, in God’s time (not ours!) there will be a day of reckoning and judgement. This parable has a focus on eschatology (the ‘last things’) when distinctions like good/bad, virtuous/villainous and godly/godless will be crystal clear. Thus, much to the wrath of the Pharisees, while Jesus showed how sinners were part and parcel of the kingdom on earth, the evangelists showed how this would be resolved in the final fulfillment of the kingdom of God. The “virtuous shining like the sun” is a metaphor familiar in Jewish literature drawn from Judg 5:31 and Dan 12:3.
- Growth from the tiny to the tall: Presumably, the same sower who sowed the wheat could have planted tiny mustard seeds. With the mixing and the marriage of seed and soil, sun and rain, in the course of time, slowly and steadily, the seed dies in order to give birth and new life to a large tree which spreads its branches “so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (v.32). The sower initiates the process and the laws of nature take over and ensure that the mustard seed fulfills the purpose for which it was created.
- Growth of the small into the ‘All’: Jesus was a keen observer not only of all that was happening around him in nature, but also of what went on in normal Palestinian households of his time. He must have watched—and most probably even assisted—Mary his mother kneading the dough to be baked as bread. Most importantly, he observed how she “hid” (v.33) leaven in the dough, which caused the whole mass to rise. Small in quantity and invisibly working from ‘within’ the mass of flour, the leaven ensures that every bit of the dough rises up to be baked as finest bread—ready to be broken and shared.
Linking the other two readings and the psalm to the theme:
Today’s first reading is from the Book of Wisdom—written by a Greek-speaking Jew probably in the first half of the first century B.C. Being surrounded by the Egyptians, the Greeks and other peoples who worshipped so-called ‘pagan gods’, the author extols Yahweh-God, whom he describes as a wise judge who “never judged unjustly.” God’s justice is tempered by God’s mercy:
“Your justice has its source in strength, your sovereignty makes you lenient to all.” This theme is more sharply expressed in today’s psalm (86): “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all.” This thought is in line with the character of God who allows weeds to grow along with the wheat, but who knows everything, and will bring about justice in God’s time.
The second reading: from Paul’s letter to the Romans encourages Christians to trust in God amidst trials and tribulations. Here, in keeping with the theme of letting God take charge of things, Paul tells believers that they have a companion, teacher and helper—the Holy Spirit, the Antarayami — who works from inside, within us, who “helps us in our weakness” and “intercedes for us”. Thus, there is no need to fear, but one must only trust in God. Isn’t this reassuring in times of Covid?
Three Contextual Concerns:
- The fairness and justice of God concern: The current pandemic has caused both, good and evil to thrive. On the one hand, while we see hundreds of doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, support staff and public servants risking their lives for others, on the other hand, there are thousands of politicians, pharmaceutical companies, corporate giants and ‘sowers’ who are hoping to reap rich benefits from this crisis. Why does God not punish these evildoers? Where is God’s justice? Is God fair in allowing both good and evil to coexist side-by-side? Can we trust God, The Supreme Sower, to bring everything to final fulfillment in His time when “God will be all in all”? (1 Cor 15:28)
- The ‘small’ mustard seed concern: God in Jesus becomes ‘small’ in the ‘little town’ of Bethlehem on the periphery of society. God’s word becomes flesh (Jn 1:14) in human history died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Jesus of Nazareth has more admirers and followers than any other person in human history; yet everything about Him, his family, his disciples, his teachings, his works, etc., teach us about bringing fullness from emptiness; richness from poorness; light from darkness; and life from death.
- The leaven in the dough concern: Leaven ‘hides’ in the dough and catalyzes the whole mass to rise. Leaven does a silent ‘inside job’ of raising the mass and transforming it. Indian Christians are called to be ‘leaven’ and a ‘minority’ in the ‘mass’ and the ‘majority’ of Indians of other religions. Rather than be vociferous, visible, victorious and ‘winners’ in society, today, can we be Christian ‘losers’ ready to lose our lives, sacrifice all that is dear to us in order to work with Christ for a “new heaven and a new earth”? (Rev 21:1)
Advice from Pope Francis: “We need to initiate processes and not just occupy spaces: God manifests Himself in historical revelation, in history. Time initiates processes and space crystalizes them. God is in history, in the processes. We must not focus on occupying the spaces where power is exercised, but rather on starting long-run historical processes. God manifests Himself in time and is present in the processes of history. This gives priority to actions that give birth to new historical dynamics. It requires patience, waiting.”
Fr. Francis Gonsalves is a Gujarat Jesuit, former Principal of Vidyajyoti College, Delhi, and currently Dean of Theology at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. He is also the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. He has authored many books and articles and is a columnist with The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle national dailies.