16th Sunday in Ordinary time
Readings
Wisdom 12:13,​16-19
Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-43
Reflection:
A question that we all address during our lives, with all their joys and sorrows, is the existence of evil. The enduring existence of evil is open to interpretation from several perspectives. For some people, it’s taken to be a sign of God’s powerlessness, or worse, that God simply chooses not to intervene in our world.
The book of Wisdom reflects on this matter and suggests that God is not powerless. What we can judge to be God’s inaction, or lack of care, is best understood as a sign of God’s patient forbearance with humanity. In other words, God takes our human freedom seriously and keeps giving us an opportunity to mend our ways and our world. For the book of Wisdom that is one part of the equation. The second is that God’s patience is a model for our own dealings with one another – quite a challenge, you’ll agree.
Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13 shed further light on the problem posed by the presence of evil in the world. The parable of the weeds and the wheat reveals both Jesus’ trust in God, and a respect for human freedom, until that moment when all creation comes into God’s presence at the end of time. Till then, weeds and wheat coexist in the parable, our world, and our own lives too. The parables of the mustard seed and the leaven remind us that God’s reign will grow even if it has almost unseen beginnings. Yes, patience and hope are required.
Fr. Chris Monaghan CP, lectures in the New Testament and is President of Yarra Theological Union. He is a member of the Passionist community of Holy Cross in Templestowe.