There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “Not one family can put a sign outside their home with the words: No Problems Here.”
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Even the Holy Family had their share of drama.
In the Gospel, for example, Jesus is preaching inside someone’s home, when all of a sudden Mary and some other family members appear wanting to speak with him.
They’re not there to ask Jesus if he’s coming home for dinner; they’re looking to scold him!
As it’s written a few verses before, they think Jesus is, “out of his mind!”
I’m sure some of his family’s concern was driven by the desire to protect him from being harmed. But the truth is, even those closest to Jesus struggled to accept him as the Son of God.
That must have been quite painful for Jesus.
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Not one family – not even the Holy Family – can say, “No problems here.”
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What issues or concerns do I face in my own family?
And how might I work to resolve them?
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Though only the beginning, perhaps the first step is listening.
Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, “Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Meaning, the path to sobriety is paved in perseverance.
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The same is true with Christianity. The path to heaven is paved in perseverance.
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Just consider the life of Saint Apollinaris, whose feast day we celebrate today.
According to tradition, he was sent by Saint Peter himself to become the first bishop of Ravenna, a town in northern Italy.
Apollinaris was so “successful” in preaching the Gospel that the non-believers in town beat him up, threw him out, and warned him never to return again.
But he did.
Apollinaris was beaten a second time, warned again never to return.
But he did.
This time he was thrown – beaten and bloodied – onto a ship to Greece.
But Apollinaris found his way back a fourth and final time, where he was martyred for our faith.
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“Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Apollinaris persevered in preaching the Gospel, in spite of the many challenges he faced. To this day, some 2,000 years later, his beloved Ravenna remains a staunchly Catholic town.
Thank God Apollinaris never gave up.
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Where is the Lord asking me to persevere?
Maybe it’s as simple as not giving into the negativity and frustration surrounding the pandemic.
Maybe it means tightening my discipline; refusing to give into temptation; staying sober; or pushing through a particular trial.
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“Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Like staying sober, the path to heaven is paved in perseverance.
Some of you may remember Billy Graham, who was called the most popular American preacher of the 20thcentury.
He once shared a story about his wife, Ruth, who was driving through miles of construction. After carefully following all the detours, she came to the final sign that read:
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
Chuckling, she drove home and told Billy, that when the time came, she wanted that as the epitaph on her tombstone.
And it was.
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Ruth Graham, 1920 – 2007.
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
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I’ve always been drawn to that story, because Ruth had the humility – and even the humor – to laugh at herself; to admit that she had both weeds and wheat growing in her life.
She was a work in progress.
That’s been the story of my life and priesthood, too.
Weeds and wheat; sin and grace; failure and redemption.
Wouldn’t it be humbling, but also freeing, if we all could say that about ourselves? That despite our best efforts, we’re still a work in progress?
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So, where’s the wheat growing in my life? What’s going well? Or, how am I building up the kingdom of God?
And where are the weeds? How do I struggle, or give into temptation?
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At times I’m impatient with myself, wondering, “Why are there weeds at all?”
I don’t want them. I hate them! Weeds choke the goodness out of me; they make me impatient, and at times, selfish. Why do these weeds exist?
The Gospel tells us.
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“A man sowed good seed in his field,” Jesus says. “But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat.”
Jesus warns us: there’s an enemy in this world – the Evil One, who sows weeds in our lives. His purpose is to frustrate; to impede our growth; to sap our goodness.
But he only sows weeds when we’re “asleep.”
In the New Testament, “to sleep” is a metaphor for neglect.
We “fall asleep” when we let our guard down; when we ignore our conscience, become morally lax, or complacent.
Only then are weeds planted within us.
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What are the temptations I face? How do I allow the weeds to grow?
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Maybe I struggle with judgment; selfishness; impatience; or gossip.
During this pandemic, maybe we’ve become spiritually complacent; lazy in prayer; or distant from the Sacraments.
It’s a humbling truth, but I know my life is a combination of weeds and wheat; sin and grace; failure and redemption. I’m still very much a work in progress.
Maybe we all are.
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But if I’m a work in progress, shouldn’t I be equally as patient with others?
It only seems fair. But Jesus knows just how hard that can be for us – being patient; withholding our judgment of others.
Remember what he says in the parable.
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The enemy sows weeds in the field while everyone else is asleep. Once the workers re-awaken, they’re furious; they’re ready to rip out every weed in the field.
But the farmer demands his servants practice restraint; now is not the time to judge. That time comes in the end at the harvest.
How often are we like those servants? Zealous; quick to judge; ready to uproot the weeds in other people’s lives, ignoring the weeds growing in our own.
We see this happening in finger-pointing politics; on the front page of tabloids; and in our homes. How many of us are guilty nitpicking at our spouse our children?
We know their shortcomings. At times we even dwell on them. Meanwhile, weeds of judgment and impatience are being planted within us.
This is why the Lord tells us to refrain from judgment. Every life is a story of weeds and wheat; sin and grace; failure and redemption.
Judgment is rightfully reserved for God, who alone is perfect, and has no weeds growing within Him.
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When the times comes, perhaps Ruth Graham’s epitaph could be saved for us all:
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
Until then, Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful…[because] we ourselves shall be judged as we have judged others.”
