Reading 1
There is no god besides you who have the care of all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.
Gospel
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"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."'"
He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"
He spoke to them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.
Then, dismissing the crowds, he 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
In today's Gospel, Jesus offers three parables to describe the Kingdom of God. One unifying theme runs through all three: the promise of glorious fulfillment, even when the present seems lacking. A field filled with weeds, the smallest seed, and a pinch of yeast all seem insufficient or flawed. Yet, each story ends with a resplendent Kingdom: the righteous wheat “shining like the sun,” the mustard plant large and full of life, and the flour leavened. What strikes us as failure in our human perspective can never undermine the Kingdom of God. Nothing can keep God’s plan from coming to fruition, and we can trust in God’s mercy and wisdom to ensure our greatest good.
In the first parable, the slaves want to rip out the weeds the moment they appear, but the Master tells them, "Let them grow together until harvest." We often want God to purify the world, the Church, and our own hearts immediately and completely, on our own terms. But Jesus reminds us that He alone knows what is best for us, and while we may not understand why, sometimes we are called to grow alongside the weeds. At the end of time, during the “harvest,” the Son of Man will ensure that evil is destroyed for good.
It is also a testament to God’s mercy that He does not erase evil as soon as it arises, for it allows all an opportunity to repent, as well as teaches us to love our enemies and seek virtue. As our first reading from the book of Wisdom says: “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.”
In the second parable, Jesus calls the mustard seed "the smallest of all the seeds," yet it becomes large enough that "the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches." How often do our own acts of faith, such as a quick prayer or moment of forgiveness, seem so small? In this life, we may never see what these small seeds of faith become. And yet, we learn that the Kingdom transforms small seeds into bounty. We must trust that God uses everything — transforms everything — and that His plan extends far beyond the smallness of the seeds we see.
In the parable of the yeast and the flour, Jesus reminds us of the invisible work of grace. The Kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of the world, concerned with appearances and finery. The Kingdom quietly permeates our lives, and just as we rely on yeast for bread to rise, even though yeast itself seems unremarkable, so do we rely on God to bring us to Himself — to our destiny of eternal life.
These are parables of hope. They remind us of what we are truly made for: the Kingdom of God in all its glory at the end of the age. This hope does not mean that we despise the present and pine for the future. Rather, it gives perspective to the weeds, seeds, and yeast, helping us trust in God’s perfect and mysterious plan. Today, when we pray “Thy Kingdom come,” during the Our Father, let us ask for an increase in both trust and hope that God will indeed answer our prayer.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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