30 July, 2024 | Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jer 14:17-22

 Gospel Mt 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.

His disciples approached him and said,

"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,

the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.

The weeds are the children of the Evil One,

and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,

so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels,

and they will collect out of his Kingdom

all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the Kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears ought to hear."

Reflection:

Let us remind ourselves of two facts. We are all born with a purpose and we were created in the image of God. Our purpose on earth is to learn our nature  and live it out. Our nature is good and we must live with that. However we are  born and we grow up in a sinful environment and so, we end up struggling to live out our good nature. Some of us lost out to the enemy and become his surrogates. This is the unfortunate reality. Still, many of us try our best to be the “good seed.” in the parable of Jesus. It is upon our shoulder to continue the task of the “Son of Man” sowing good seeds on earth. As long as we live, we aspire to become part of the harvest. It is not easy because the enemy is powerful enough to choke our growth as children of the good seed. Yet, he will never succeed because the Son of Man has already planted the seed of success through his death and resurrection. 

Activity: 

Reflect on this image of the “weeds and the wheat.” Then identify the weeds in your life. Choose one of them and analyse it. Do you wish to uproot this weed ?