Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The Sistine Chapel is one of the most iconic works of art ever created. Strewn across the wall where the altar stands is a depiction of the final judgment.

Angels fight for the souls of the just, while demons pull the evil ones down into the netherworld. It’s a jarring but beautiful piece, drawing its inspiration from today’s Gospel.

“Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,” Jesus says, “so it will be at the end of the age.” 

Michelangelo reminds us that everyone must stand before the judgment seat of God. But why does God wait until the end of our lives to judge us? Or, using the imagery from today’s Gospel, why must the weeds co-exist with the wheat? 

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When they first sprout, weeds and wheat look quite similar. 

Any seasoned farmer knows that it’s best to wait until the weeds and wheat become fully mature before separating them; otherwise, one may be mistaken for the other.

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In a similar way, Jesus waits until the end of our lives to judge what we’ve become, either a weed or wheat. It’s his prayer that every soul becomes wheat. Shouldn’t we hope for the same?

Doing so means three things: 

First, that we are patient with ourselves; faith is a life-long journey. Secondly, that we’re patient with others. And, third, that we withhold our judgment of others, never seeing another person as incapable of change.

Rather, like Jesus, we do everything we can to reveal the goodness of God.

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Sometimes it feels like a distant and difficult truth, but the Lord’s judgment does come. So, “whoever has ears ought to hear,” Jesus says.

What does this mean for me today?

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Image credits: (1) Michelangelo, Divine Judgment, Sistine Chapel, SmartHistory (2) Undefined (3) Sistine Chapel, Ibid.

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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What are the two most important – and, at times, difficult – words we can say?

“Yes, Jesus.”

In Latin, Iesu ita. 

It’s from these two words, Iesu ita, that we get the word, “Jesuit.”

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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit religious order. 

Currently, there are over 17,000 Jesuit priests serving across six different continents. Even Pope Francis is a Jesuit!

But it all started 500 years ago when Ignatius said, Iesu ita, “Yes, Jesus.”

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Those were not easy words for him to speak. 

Ignatius was once a soldier in the Spanish army who sought human glory in war. However, his life changed after he suffered a terrible leg injury, landing him bedridden in the hospital for months on end.

Dying of boredom, Ignatius began reading biographies of different Saints (because there was nothing else to read)! But this sparked his conversion, inspiring him to begin fighting the greatest battle of all: the battle against evil itself.

Some years later, Ignatius was ordained a Catholic priest and started the Jesuit religious order.

Again, now there are over 17,000 Jesuit priests serving across six different continents! And it all started – using today’s Gospel imagery – with a “mustard seed.” 

One man said “Yes, Jesus.” Those words changed his life, and 500 years later, they are still changing the world for good.

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Imagine what might happen if you follow Ignatius’ example and say, “Yes, Jesus,” today.

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Image credits: (1) Ask Harriette (2) Jesuits.org (3) Bible.com

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 44-52

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls. 
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind. 
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets. 
What is bad they throw away. 
Thus it will be at the end of the age. 
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

“Do you understand all these things?” 
They answered, “Yes.” 
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” 

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m a convert to the Catholic faith.

Some of my family members, friends, even people I barely know have wondered why. 

They see the flaws in the Church and often are quick to share their doubts about God, their anger with the Church over the scandals, or their opposition to some of the Church’s teachings.

While some of their criticism may be fair – certainly the inexcusability of Church scandals – I often say to them, “This is still the place where Jesus has called me to be. It’s the Church he founded. It’s the kingdom of God made present here on earth.”

Both today’s Gospel passage, as well as last week’s passage on the weeds and wheat, make this point – while here on earth, the kingdom of God is filled with weeds and wheat, sinners and saints, a few rotten fish, and an abundance of grace.

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“The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,” Jesus says, “which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.”

Just as a farmer waits until the harvest to separate the weeds from the wheat, so the fisherman waits until he returns ashore before sifting through his nets, separating the good fish from the rotten ones. 

Consider the Church’s first catch – the Twelve Apostles. Eleven of them were turned into disciples. Judas, the twelfth, turned into a scoundrel, betraying Jesus, handing him over for thirty lousy pieces of silver before hanging himself.

That’s the foundation the Church is built upon while here on earth – a combination of weeds and wheat, sinners and saints, one rotten fish and eleven swimming in grace.

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It’s not an easy pill to swallow. 

But our Lord gives us these parables to caution and to comfort us. Like every other person, place, and institution here on earth, the Church is imperfect for one reason: it’s populated by human beings.

This is why you have to dig and sell all that you have in order to discover its treasure, the pearl of great price.

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“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,” Jesus says, “which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

They buy that field because they’ve found Jesus. In the words of Saint Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”

It takes wisdom – divine wisdom like that given to Solomon in our first reading – to accept that the Church – this Church – is in fact, God’s kingdom made present here on earth. 

The Church has the power to bless; to heal; to forgive; and to transform lives. It’s transformed my life – it’s why I’m both a convert and a Catholic priest.

Here we receive the Holy Spirit in baptism. Here our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance. Here we receive Jesus himself in the Eucharist. Here we are healed.

We are all part of a bigger plan – God’s plan – that started with those eleven fish, the Apostles, who once swam in the same fountain of grace.

Yes, the weeds mingle with the wheat; rotten fish swim next to healthy ones. But God, our fisherman, is making his way ashore; the time is coming when, “the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous,” Jesus says.

Until then, there’s no place I’d rather be than right here, caught in the net of the Lord’s mercy.

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What has been my experience of the Church? Have there been moments when I’ve felt closer to God because of the Sacraments? 

And, sadly, have there been moments when I wanted to swim away? 

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Sometimes the imperfections in our Church can cause us to focus on who is next to us in the net – perhaps a rotten fish – as opposed to our own need for continual conversion and spiritual growth.

The Lord will send his angels to separate those who belong from those who don’t in time.

But our focus should be this: digging deeper and deeper until we discover the pearl of great price – Jesus Christ – fully present in this Eucharist, and therefore fully present in you, in me, and thus, his Church.

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Image credits: (1) Bob Yandian Ministries, The Pearl of Great Price (2) Fishing, The Guardian (3) Universal Life Church