A reflection on Mt. 13:24-30
By Bro. George German Perez, CJM
Today, we find ourselves in a troubling time, a time of disorder. This disorder is something that, in a certain way, has caught us off guard. Just as the Sower was surprised by the enemy in the parable of the wheat and the weeds, he decides to wait until harvest time to deal with the weeds appropriately.
Proper discernment can help us see the good in God’s work, and how does this parable help us understand God’s immense love in our situation? I think it is seen in the patience and faith that the Sower shows upon being notified of the enemy’s actions. We ourselves are being tested as well with respect to an invisible enemy that has planted itself in our souls. We must always seek the God’s grace to be vigilant at all times and be aware that although the enemy can strike, we can find patience and humility to see beyond ourselves and the problem, and to see how God works and ask for his help. St. John Eudes gives us a description of how we should act when we are surprised by this spiritual enemy. “It is up to us to be faithful and go our way always with humility, strength, and trust.” As the Sower has done in dealing with the enemy, we should have confidence that God is with us in our battle to overcome life’s spiritual weeds (the spiritual enemy of our soul).
As our communities are being ravaged by an invisible enemy "COVID 19", the proper discernment in dealing with this enemy is essential. We need to act appropriately to protect what is ours and safeguard those we love, just as Jesus teaches us “in Loving Neighbor”.
Discernment can mean to be the correct response to particular human situations, weedy situations when the good harvest of God’s grace is kept and all else are discarded. This is what we should do in living our lives with the many spiritual distractions of our time, proper discernment is necessary at all times and discard all else.
It is Jesus Christ that gives us this parable today because God's full understanding and experience bring him to the decisions of letting the field be brought up undisturbed at harvest and dealing with the weeds by burning them. This is what Jesus wants from us today, to understand the situation and act in the appropriate manner as a response so that nothing that comes up in our lives today can shake our faith in Christ and take us away from His love for us.
St. John Eudes points us to be ready for the enemy to strike at any time, but if we are faithful and humble, we can receive the Holy Spirit’s graces and guide us in discerning what we are to do when a problem arises in our lives.
In today's gospel, this parable points us to see how God works in our lives by giving us the strength and trust to distinguish the good from the bad and make the proper decisions. In this way, we are strengthened, and we become more trustworthy in living a Christ-centered life, although threatened by the enemy.