"Let them both grow till the harvest"

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A - 19th July 2020

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Gospel Matthew 13: 24–30 

(shortened version)


Jesus put a parable before the crowds, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?’ ‘Some enemy has done this’, he answered.

And the servants said, ‘Do you want us to go and weed it out?’ But he said, ‘No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I enter this time of prayer by reverently approaching Jesus the teacher. I sit at his feet and listen deeply to what he is trying to tell me. Yes, he is speaking to the crowds, but he is also speaking directly to me.

As I slowly pray the Gospel, what am I noticing in what Jesus says and in the way he says it? What is touching me as I listen?

Perhaps I am thinking about the evil I see around me, and wondering how to cope with it?

Or maybe I am drawn to ponder the weeds I can discern within myself – doubt, mistrust, self-reliance, fear ...?

Could it be that realising where my faults lie can make me humble, more tolerant of others?

As I read again, I may be drawn to the quiet, measured reaction of the landowner.

Perhaps I yearn to approach things in a more measured way myself? Have I the patience to wait for God’s purposes to be fulfilled?

I continue to pray, asking for whatever I need.

Perhaps I pray for the constancy always to seek what is good and to ask for an ever-deeper trust in the great depth of God’s mercy.

Glory be ...