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It was maybe fifteen
years ago on a Saturday around noon that I received an “urgent”
telephone call from the upset parents of a student. They claimed
to represent a much larger contingent of “extremely concerned parents,”
they told me. For a principal, there's nothing quite like that
statement to quicken a case of the high-energy jitters. It's like
receiving a telephone call from a polite IRS agent saying that he wants
to meet with you to audit last year's income tax statement.
What motivated the
telephone call was that
“The Friday evening cocktail circuit,” a group of parents who confused
parental involvement with parental interference in school matters, had
come to the conclusion that one teacher was ruining everything for the
entire school¾the
proverbial “rotten apple that destroys the whole bushel”¾and,
the parents who called me said, if I didn’t act swiftly to do something
about this teacher, the larger group of parents would have to resort to
other, more drastic measures. These representatives were calling me to
see whether they could arrange an emergency meeting for Sunday afternoon
in order to stave off what the parents believed was a very terrible
situation.
(I think the whole thing actually started on Friday
afternoon in the parking lot after dismissal when a mother inquired of
the kids in the carpool, “So, what happened in school today?”
Evidently, one student prevaricated about something this teacher had
said in class. And, after watching this mother go bonkers, none of
the other students denied the one student's rendition of what had
happened. After several episodes of this behavior, neophyte
principals learn that it’s a game called “Yo-Yo,” where a student lays
out a half truth while the other students take delight in watching the
adult go bonkers. It’s a game that eighth graders and sophomores
particularly enjoy playing.)
“Pull the weed out and
everything else will be fine,” I guess the group of upset parents had
concluded at the Friday night cocktail circuit. I thought, “If I could
only find out who the ringleaders of that cocktail circuit are and
eliminate them, then everything would be fine.”
But, the parable we’ve
just heard about the wheat and the weeds doesn’t follow that line of
reasoning as we deal with evil as it manifests itself in our lives.
While God has sown good seed, the enemy has come under a cloud of
darkness at some hour in the middle of the night to sow weeds. It is only later that the evidence of this treachery on the
enemy’s part is manifest in the weeds which have sprouted up.
Oddly, when the slaves ask the householder whether they should pull up
the weeds, he says without any trace of alarm whatsoever, “Let them grow
together until the harvest, then at harvest time I will say to the
harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for
burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
It’s as if the
householder is saying, “Live and let live. In the end, each will
receive its reward by the fruit it has borne. In the mean time, let
both grow side by side.”
This is a message that
many people¾not
just those upset and angry parents who wanted to meet with me on that
Sunday afternoon but me, too, who wanted to do away with the group’s
ringleaders¾don’t
like to hear. Instead, people prefer that someone big and powerful¾if
the Almighty God Himself is not available, then the principal will do
just fine, thank you¾to
intervene by meting out the justice that others deserve...right here and
now!
When wronged, people
want justice…and they demand it right now. All one has to do is to
watch the television news so see this behavior in action. Video clips
capturing grizzly scenes showing an injustice being perpetrated are
repeated time and again as if these scenes have been put into a
perpetual loop and even though there may be other exculpatory evidence
that is not being televised. People want to eradicate what they have
defined as evil from their midst¾many
times without any investigation whatsoever¾in
order that the evil does not infect or destroy what people have already
defined as good.
It is not unusual, for
example, that siblings will hope in their hearts¾some even pray¾that
a brother or a sister will be punished for what they’ve done. And, when
a parent metes out the punishment, it is not all that unusual for the
instigator to take inordinate prideful delight in seeing “justice” exacted.
When teenagers break
up a relationship, it is not unusual that at least one harbors very deep
resentment and nurtures the hope that “he will get his” or “she will get
hers.” Sometimes, the jilted party will even hatch schemes and enlist
co-conspirators so that one’s desire for revenge will exact the very
high and public price of humiliation.
And, when spouses or
co-workers find themselves aggrieved, it is not at all unusual that they
hope justice will be meted out. And, when it isn’t, it is not unusual
that a spouse or co‑worker will, at a bare minimum, impute evil motives,
malign those who have wronged them by pointing out what’s wrong with
them, actively work to tarnish their reputations, or hire lawyers to drag them down
into the mud.
But, the parable of
the wheat and the weeds remind us that despite what we may hope for and
our desire for vindication, the weeds will not be eradicated from our
lives. Instead, this parable says, God wills that the wheat and the
weeds exist side by side.
How can this be?
One reason is
philosophical, namely, the belief held through the centuries by very
thoughtful people that the virtue of the good ultimately will outshine
the vice of the evil, in much the same way that strong, hearty plants
and bushes can crowd out weeds in a grove or garden. For people
upholding this belief, "virtue is its own reward." A second,
more important reason is theological, namely, that as we work at
eradicating the weeds from our lives, we might so busy ourselves looking
out for what everyone else is doing that is evil and we will miss the
weeds cropping up in our own souls.
We may be very
generous, for example, in sharing our time, talent, or wealth with
others, but we may do so only because it is advantageous. At
work or in social circles, we may be warm and outgoing with those who
have power over us or can advance our interests. But, then, when we’re
at home, we may be moodiest, grumpiest, most sullen, or just plain old
meanest and rottenest people to the members of our own families who
don’t have much power over us and cannot advance our interests. We may
open our homes and our tables to other family members and neighbors, but
we place an unstated caveat upon our hospitality by inviting these
people back only after they’ve reciprocated in kind. How often have you
heard people complaining about how generous they have been and then
point to the lack of reciprocal generosity on the part of others? The
hospitality offered really wasn't a gift but, rather, an accommodation
that had nothing to do with being generous.
According to the
parable of the wheat and the weeds, God does not act this way. In
contrast to our desire for swift and exacting justice and our desire
that everything be equal and fair, God is patient and tolerant not only
with the good (as we expect) but also with the evil (which is not what
we expect). God doesn’t intervene at the time that we’ve set and in the
way that we've defined. After all, we're not God! Instead, Jesus
teaches us in this parable, God waits until the very end of the season¾the
time following the harvest¾after
the good and the bad have borne their fruit. Then, and only then, does
God act.
But, even more
importantly, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven not to some place “up there” or “out there,” far beyond our ordinary experience as human beings. Instead, Jesus
likens the kingdom of heaven to a field that exists
“right here” in the midst of our ordinary, daily human experience. As
such, the kingdom of heaven isn’t a place where the souls of human
beings transmigrate after their bodies die. Instead, the kingdom of
heaven is that place “right here” where human beings grow, develop, and
mature not only physically as human beings but also spiritually as God’s
children. That place is in our homes, in our places of employment,
within the Church, and in our neighborhoods. It is this place¾“right
here”¾the
kingdom of heaven in our midst where both good seeds and bad seeds
co-exist side by side. And, this is the place where, at the end of the
season¾the
time of the harvest¾after
the time for growing and bearing fruit has passed, that God's angels will
come to separate the fruit of the good seed from the fruit of the bad
seed. In the mean time, it is the God’s will that both the good and
evil sprout, that they grow from seedlings into mature plants, and that
they bear the fruit which ultimately distinguishes the good and the bad.
In the kingdom of
heaven, what should motivate our relations with others¾and
especially the weeds in our midst¾is
not what they can do for us or what we can get in return from them.
Instead, our relationships with all people¾both
the good and the evil¾should
be motivated by the abiding awareness that God is patient and tolerant
with us as we grow, develop, and work hard to produce the good fruit of
virtue in our own lives.
In the end, the gospel
teaches us that justice will prevail. Until that time, our
challenge as disciples is not to allow impatience and intolerance to
grab hold of us and strangle our virtue but, instead, to grow in
patience and tolerance until the time of the harvest. Then,
everyone’s fruit will be manifestly evident and the Lord “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.” |
HOMILY
