Lectionary: 400
Reading 1
Jeremiah 7:1-11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD,
and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah
who enter these gates to worship the LORD!
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,
burn incense to Baal,
go after strange gods that you know not,
and yet come to stand before me
in this house which bears my name, and say:
“We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”?
Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11
R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Gospel
Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“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.”’”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: FIELD OF DREAMS?
"When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the weeds made their appearance as well." –Matthew 13:26
Some of you who are reading this have been serving the Lord in ministry for years. You have prayed and worked long and hard, toiling with all your heart in your desire to bear fruit for your Lord and Master. Perhaps you are beginning to see the good fruits of your efforts as those to whom you have ministered are progressing as disciples, making their own commitments to Jesus, or sharing their faith with others. The crop you have sowed is beginning "to mature and yield grain" (Mt 13:26).
This is the time when people Jesus describes as "the weeds" begin to make their appearance (Mt 13:26). Just when it looks like your efforts will result in a fruitful harvest and in glory to God, people appear within your ministry or community and begin to wantonly consume energy you intended to use to nourish "the wheat," that is, those bearing fruit as a result of your loving service. Now your "wheat" are not getting "fed" properly because your "weeds" are siphoning off their spiritual food.
Now it looks as if the entire ministry may be shelved under the threat of the weeds. Naturally you want to uproot the weeds. Yet Jesus says to let the weeds grow (Mt 13:30). This seems to make no sense, but God is the Vinegrower (Jn 15:1), and He knows how to produce fruit. Jesus prunes you and the wheat (Jn 15:2), and allows the weeds to consume nourishment meant to sustain you! Yet God has an even higher priority, and it is conversion. He wants the weeds to become wheat. Conversion is costly, inconvenient, and strength-sapping. It also brings great joy in heaven (Lk 15:7).
PRAYER: Master, give me Your heart and mind (1 Cor 2:16).
PROMISE: "Happy the men whose strength You are." –Ps 84:6
PRAISE: Walt prayed to St. Ann daily to reconcile a relationship between two of his loved ones that Walt considered irreconcilable. Several years later, Walt rejoiced as the reconciliation was more complete than he could have imagined (see Eph 3:20).
Be an inspiration, kindly Share.
No comments:
Post a Comment