Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A SIXTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 17.7.05 Wis 12,13.16-19; Rom 8,26-27; Mt 13,24-43 Are
we tare turned wheat?
Good
& bad in life.
Last Sunday & today, we reflect on parables about soil & seed: good
& bad soil, good & bad seed in the Lord’s field. Then, we were
challenged to improve the fabric (soil) of our life, so we could best receive
& nurture God’s word, & then produce worthwhile fruit. Today, the
parable of ‘tare sown among wheat’ asks us to keep on working on the quality
of our life (soil), choose either to exclude (uproot) or include, to stay
condemnatory or conciliatory, when dealing with issues & people. Over the
centuries, this parable has evoked a bitter discussion on church conduct &
discipline, in matters of heresy. As in all things biblical, this parable too
can be given a variety of meanings &interpretations: tares & weeds can
be heretical doctrines or heretical persons, or simply immoral people in the
Church. In the Catholic versus Protestants confrontation,
‘rooting them up’ has meant disciplining or expelling, even killing,
as the damage created & the outrage generated would suggest. In 1518, Pope
Leo X wrote that Luther should be ‘extirpated as tare & cockle from the
fertile field of the Lord’. St. Augustine at more peaceful times around 400AD,
felt that heterodox & orthodox doctrines should coexist. But Aquinas -in
1200AD- taught that such is the contagiousness of heresy that its propagators
could be handed to the ‘secular authority’ for execution. Today, we condemn
all religious fanaticism (e.g., Crusaders or burning of heretics..). But -just
now!- how do we feel about present day terrorists & religious fanatics, who
massacre innocent people in London & elsewhere? Can outrage turn to
retaliation? What does Jesus teach us? Become
‘tare turned wheat’. Daily
life tells us that we, left to our human resources, are prone to, &
influenced by, evil. We easily: are led to evil, do evil, lead others to evil
& give bad example. There is always need in us to turn from evil to good,
with God’s grace. Last Sunday, we were urged to improve the quality of our
life, today we are urged to turn from ‘tare into wheat’. In the history of
Christianity, St. Paul is the first example of ‘tare turned wheat’. After
him, millions of converts have also turned. In every age, women & men have
transformed their life & become outstanding saints, following St.
Augustine’s insight: ‘if these men & women have succeeded, why
shouldn’t I? (si isti et istae cur non ego?). It must be said however, that
the contrast between good & bad reflects not only the reality of the early
Christians at Matthew’s time, but also the life situation of every age &
of our time. The parable highlights the difficulty of being a Church called to
be ‘holy in Christ’, while there are people among us, who scandalize others
by their bad behaviour. On this, Alexander Solzhenitsyn beautifully
concludes: ‘Gradually I came to realize that the line separating good from
evil passes not between nations, nor between classes of people, nor between
political parties, but right through every human heart’. For all the
inter-religious dialogue of the last 40 years, religious in-tolerance has made
us both persecutor & persecuted: the opposing sides of Protestants &
Catholics, traditionalists & progressives continue to accuse others of
superstition, popery or biblical fundamentalism, while we all claim the words of
Jesus, that the Angels at the end of time will sever wheat from tares. Today’s
Lesson: be strong in your belief about the Church, its leaders, your family
& your life. Do not be surprised if you see good & bad mixed together in
yourself & in others; in both yourself & others, accept imperfections
& limitations; leave things in God’s hands, & still be: patient,
tolerant, faithful to prayer & persevering.... ______________________________________ |
