Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Intro: It would be simple for God to tidy our imperfect world, and our imperfect selves, annihilate the wicked and reward the good. Instead, He's immensely patient, and waits for us to choose right instead of wrong in our humdrum lives.
Readings: the Book of Wisdom tells us that God is infinitely powerful, but combines power with kindness, giving us time to repent.
Paul's telling the Roman community that when we find it hard to pray, then the Holy Spirit will express our pleas to God when we can't find the words we need.
Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19;
Romans 8; 26-27;
Matthew 13: 24-43;
Life can be messy, and today's Gospel parables reflect the way God works with us in the midst of our uncertainty and doubt. Often in the 0.T., He seems to work on the principle of "one strike and you're out" - witness the story of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, or Moses striking the rock for water twice instead of just once, as he had been told, and then being forbidden entry into the Promised Land as a result.
In the parables of the Kingdom, were given a picture of God transforming us from within, seemingly allowing both good and evil to flourish together. He waits for us to turn to Him, but He's not impatient; He gives us time to develop our skills and talents so that we can them use them to pull away from evil and draw closer to Him.
Both the patterns of our life, and God's expectations for us work differently, and probably on different timescales. While we're created in the image and likeness of God, there are times when we'll grow straight and true, and there are other times when we'll veer off at a tangent and perhaps go off the rails all together. Those are the times when we have to recognise and trust that God is still working in us, being patient with us, waiting for us to come back to Him once more.
He has given us the choice of free will, the freedom to do completely as we want, to stray as well as to come back. It's perhaps only when we find ourselves at our most erratic that we have to remember that God has the habit of writing straight on crooked lines!
Sometimes it's better to wait, rather than act impatiently: the farmer was aware that some weeds and wheat are similar in appearance and he advises patience - wait until both are mature, and then they can be more easily separated. In the same way, sometimes it's better to wait rather than act impulsively and judge too readily before we know all the facts.
Perhaps we should wait and allow time for change and repentance. That doesn't mean that we're tolerating sin. Jesus teaches us to have a deep faith in a God Who is in control, and can bring good out of the most unpromising situations. Can we be like Him, and do the same?
Intercessions
We bring all our petitions, both personal and shared, to the Father we trust, asking Him to help us use well the many gifts He has given us:-
1. For the Church. May She always preach Your word energetically in an increasingly secular world - Lord, hear us.
2. For the many troubled areas of our world. May all nations learn to live and work together in peace, harmony and partnership - Lord, hear us.
3. For our young people, growing up in an evermore stressful and complex world. Help them discover their true calling in life and do what You have planned for them - Lord, hear us.
4. For those experiencing a personal crisis in their life. Through Your grace and our prayers, bring them back to find the right and courageous decisions they need to make - Lord, hear us.
5. For Tom Monaghan who has died recently; and for the anniversaries of Alice Anne Devlin, Tommy Devlin, Helen Dunne, Bill Leach, Nancy Williamson, Flora Smillie, Frank Lafferty, John & Janet McGrory. Grant them eternal rest with You, our Blessed Lady and all the angels and saints in Heaven - Lord, hear us.
Loving Father, be equally quick to hear and answer our prayers, and forgive us for the times when we have failed You.