Matthew 13: 36-43
Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the 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 causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
The Good and Bad Mixed Together
Our world is full of good and bad mixed together, and each of us sinners has goodness within. The weeds and the wheat are thoroughly mixed. To love the world, to love someone else, and to love ourselves, we must clearly see both the good and the bad. To only see the bad is not to love but to villainize, reject, or despair. To only see the good is not to love but to idolize and dismiss. Both tendencies are attractive and cheap denials. The righteousness to love requires the courage to see both.
—David J. M. Herr, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic teaching philosophy at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Prayer
Jesus,
Help me to see the world more as you do,
So that I might love more as you do,
as I live and labor in fields of weeds and wheat.
Amen
—David J. M. Herr, SJ