A Difficult Choice To Make

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐒. 𝐉𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟐𝟒:𝟑-𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟎:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟓-𝟔, 𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟓 “𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟒-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧.” (𝐯.𝟑𝟎) 

        There was a story about a man who went to the confessional once with a whole fried chicken in his hands. Kneeling down he said “forgive me Father for I have sinned. I stole this fried chicken to feed my family. Will you take this to settle my sin?”

        “Of course not,” the Priest said. “For your penance you must return it for there must be restitution so that you may be forgiven.”

         “I tried but the one who owns this fried chicken refused,” the man said. “Then if what you’re saying is true, you can keep that friend chicken for your family’s needs.” The man thanked the Priest and left.

        When the confession was over, the Priest returned to his residence beside the Church and as he lifted the cover of what was supposed to be his dinner, he found that someone had stolen his fried chicken.

        Our Gospel for this Sunday speaks of the wheat and the tares (weeds) growing together. This has been interpreted by Bible scholars as representing the presence of good and evil in the world. Not that the man who stole the chicken was evil and the Priest was good but the difference in these two situations is sometimes what we also experience in our lives.

        We also have two versions of the Gospel reading. One is the short form 𝐯𝐯. 𝟐𝟒-𝟑𝟎 in which Jesus talks about the wheat and the weeds and the long form 𝐯𝐯. 𝟐𝟒-𝟒𝟑 in which Matthew included the parable of the mustard seed and of the yeast.

        So as not to clog our thoughts with so many points as we reflect on the Gospel today, let me limit this reflection on the short form which is on the parable of the wheat and the weeds as I believe that this has some relevance in the environment that we are in especially for those who belong to a ministry in the church or in a renewal movement.

        When the farmer was asked in 𝒗.28 “𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔?” The farmer replied “𝒏𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐.” Also striking is 𝒗. 27 wherein the farmer was informed by his servants “𝑺𝒊𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔.” To which the Farmer exclaimed in 𝒗. 28 “𝑨𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒕.”       

         If we are then to equate the weeds with the evil that permeates in the world and, the wheat as the good that is also operative in the world, then we can summarily conclude that both good and evil do co-exist in this world that we live in.

         As we see in the Gospel, the wheat (good) and the weeds (evil) cannot be separated while these are just sprouting and growing but will have to be sifted at the time of harvest because the grains that come from the weeds are poison. It is also difficult to uproot the weeds when these are growing together with the wheat because both are indistinguishable.

         What this Gospel is telling us is that even the evil that is before us can at times look good. I am sure that there have been times when we have met people whose character are entirely different from the reputation that they project. On the other hand, we may perceive someone to be bad but who is actually a good person.

         In other words, there are times in our life that we have become too quick in judging people and putting a tag on them without first verifying the truth behind the façade that we see. Most often, we judge people by the one single mistake that they commit forgetting all the good that they may have done in their lives.

         In fact, a person can sin and when he realizes what he has committed against God he becomes remorseful and returns to the every-flowing Grace of God. In the same way, a person can appear to be living a holy life but succumbs to sin and not finding the way to repentance.

         While this Gospel teaches us that the wheat and the weeds will definitely be separated, the point that is being stated here is that we are not the ones who will sift through the harvest and separate the weeds from the wheat. At the end of the day, it is our God who is going to do it for judgment is His alone for it is He alone who will ultimately decide who are the wheat and who are the weeds.

         I’m sure that you will agree with me that there were times when we allowed evil thoughts to come into our consciousness especially against those who may have wronged us. To allow these evil thoughts to linger and occupy our thoughts is to allow the weed to choke the wheat that also grows in us.

         Like what I shared with you some time ago, I thought of getting back at my two business associates who cheated me of my rightful share in our business. But the wheat that was formed in me by the Christian Discipleship Formation Program that I attended in our community grew abundantly that it bore fruit in my life. And I forgot all about this sad experience when God Himself pulled out the weed (spirit of anger, hate and revenge) from my heart and allowed the wheat (Spirit of forgiveness) to grow and bear fruit in my life.

         Our job and which should be our preoccupation is not to pull out the weeds around us but to sow the wheat (Word of God) which should be our primary responsibility. We should actually be thankful that it is not our job to pull out the weeds because we might also pull out some of the wheat when we do.

         What we need to do is to constantly look into our inner self and see what becomes us for there is the possibility we may turn into a weed without knowing it. This passage is indeed significant especially for those who are in ministry because it makes us aware that weeds and wheat can grow together and what we want to become is really a matter of choice.

         But the job of separating the weeds from the wheat or the right to judge what is good and what is evil rests in God for it is He alone who can judge. Our job is to simply become the wheat and to grow and bear fruit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) while keeping in mind that (sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like) are the poison that could turn us into a weed and ruin our relationship with God. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 26, 2025)