Sixteenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

"The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, 'First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

The world is a place full of earthly wickedness and heavenly goodness. The question is which side we align ourselves with: the weeds or the wheat. We cannot be both. We cannot serve two masters. We either love the world more than God or we love God more than the world. This isn’t to say we cannot enjoy our lives, but rather if we have the choice between enjoying our lives and serving God, then we will choose God every time. This detachment from the world is necessary if we are to bear the good fruits of self-sacrifice instead of the bad fruits of selfishness. Because we grow up among the weeds, we might sometimes wonder why they seem to be thriving when we are suffering, physically, mentally, or spiritually. However, as long as we are willing to weather the bad times, we will eventually be rewarded by being lifted up to heaven and avoid the fires of Hell.

What can we do to make sure we are the wheat and not weeds of the world? How can we overcome the temptations that seek to entangle and strangle us? What good fruits are we bearing for God and His children?

O Lord, gather us into your heavenly kingdom.

Amen.