\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dc. Larry Brockman<\/p>\n
God is irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what a Canadian social study concluded about that nation’s young people.\u00c2\u00a0 Because, although 84% of those surveyed said they believed in God, only 10% believed that God had “a great deal of influence on how they lived”.\u00c2\u00a0 Our society teaches that here as well.\u00c2\u00a0 It claims that everything can be explained by natural processes through science, and that those natural processes are not coordinated by “an intelligent source”- they are just random.\u00c2\u00a0 So people don’t really believe God works miracles- because they can all be explained through science.\u00c2\u00a0 And what follows from that is very subtle, but it is nevertheless certainly assumed.\u00c2\u00a0 Because if God doesn’t intervene in what happens in our world, then that implies that God doesn’t work in our lives either.\u00c2\u00a0 So, the chances are that lots of people today, even those who say they believe in God, don’t really think God has a great deal of influence on their lives.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you?\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Really, do you think God has a great deal of influence on your life?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, today’s parable of the wheat gives good insight into God’s attitude towards our lack of faith,\u00c2\u00a0 Because it deals with mercy- God’s infinite mercy.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
First, let me explain something about the parable.\u00c2\u00a0 The word used for “weed” in the parable is actually “Darnel”.\u00c2\u00a0 Darnel looks very much like wheat when it is young.\u00c2\u00a0 That makes Darnel difficult to deal with until it grows to a mature plant. \u00c2\u00a0But Darnel’s fruit is poisonous as opposed to the nourishing properties of wheat.\u00c2\u00a0 That is what made the enemy’s deed so cunning and effective.\u00c2\u00a0 Scholars indicate that processing costs would have been 4 times normal to do what the landowner ordered his workers to do- to separately gather and process the good and the bad crops.\u00c2\u00a0 So, a normal landowner would not have been so calm.\u00c2\u00a0 He would have been very angry, and sent his people out to find the enemy and seek revenge.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, Jesus theme in this parable is Mercy.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus tells us the meaning of the parable in his own words.\u00c2\u00a0 The enemy is the devil; the Darnel are those who follow the devil; the Son of God is the landowner; and the wheat represents the righteous ones.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus says the landowner’s plan was to be patient- and wait until the harvest.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t seek revenge.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, all of you out there probably think this parable is talking about “them”, not “us”.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, us’ns all gathered here are believers.\u00c2\u00a0 “Them” are the evil ones out there in the world, the people who are not here; the Canadians I mentioned, or people who are atheists or imprisoned felons- the bad people of the world.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, I don’t think so.\u00c2\u00a0 I think Jesus is talking to you and I, \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Because there’s a little bit of Darnel in all of us. \u00c2\u00a0We are all sinners.\u00c2\u00a0 And society has carefully sown a dangerous weed seed, one that grows up right along side of us.\u00c2\u00a0 It looks like a believer; it says it’s a believer; but when you come right down to it, it is not a believer.\u00c2\u00a0 Down deep many people all around us think God is remote, and irrelevant in their lives.\u00c2\u00a0 And that happens right here among us, it’s not just “them”- somewhere out there.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, Jesus is telling you and I that God will be patient.\u00c2\u00a0 God will wait until the harvest at the Last Judgment to determine who is righteous and who is not.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, God will be merciful.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I see at least three lessons to be learned from this parable.\u00c2\u00a0 First, God is giving us every chance to repent and bear good fruit.\u00c2\u00a0 We can be Darnel today, but wheat tomorrow.\u00c2\u00a0 And God is willing to give us every chance to follow him right up until the last moment.\u00c2\u00a0 Second, God knows that we will be exposed to those who are weeds.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, God will leave the weeds amongst us.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why would he do that?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, because He wants all of us, and He is patient enough to give all of us a chance to repent.\u00c2\u00a0 Even those who think he is remote and not active in their lives.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, he even loves “them”.\u00c2\u00a0 And thirdly, God wants us to be patient with the Darnel.\u00c2\u00a0 We are all called to show the same kind of mercy to others, as the mercy we would want shown to us.\u00c2\u00a0 Recall the words from the first reading:\u00c2\u00a0 “You mastery over all things makes you lenient to all”, and “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind”. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Kindness leads to conversion. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0And so, the evil in the world is left in place partly because God hopes we will do his will, and by our example of kindness and mercy, convert even the hardest of hearts. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rest assured\u00c2\u00a0 God does have a great deal of influence in your lives.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, as the Wisdom reading says so well:\u00c2\u00a0 “For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved”.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite cynics and skeptics, this might has been demonstrated over the years in the miracles of the saints.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyone familiar with Padre Pio or Mother Theresa knows and understands that.<\/p>\n
How can you assure that God is active in your life?\u00c2\u00a0 You access God in your life by your faith in Him, which translates to trusting that He will be with you in your life; and by prayer.\u00c2\u00a0 Paul tells us in the second reading that God’s spirit will come to our aid in weakness to plead for us when we pray, and I Quote:\u00c2\u00a0 “Because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will”.\u00c2\u00a0 Try that- and see how he intercedes for you.\u00c2\u00a0 He answers your prayers by showering you with gifts- a child, a job, a healing; and, like any good parent, by disciplining you- a forced change in your life; an apparent no; or a loss of some kind.\u00c2\u00a0 When you have a prayer relationship with Him, you will come to understand the “why” of these hard things in time.\u00c2\u00a0 When that happens, and it surely will, it is then that you will know, that:<\/p>\n
God is relevant.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0 July 20, 2008 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 12: 13, 16-19; Rom 8: 26-27; Mt 13: 24-43 Dc. Larry Brockman God is irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what a Canadian social study concluded about that nation’s young people.\u00c2\u00a0 Because, although 84% of those surveyed said they believed in God, only 10% believed that God had “a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}