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According to the students enrolled in my graduate organization theory course, the most daunting of the projects they have to complete is the much-dreaded “organizational change plan.” One of the reasons my students find this project so difficult is because they aren’t allowed to fire or replace anyone currently working for the organization. Instead, my students must design an organizational change plan whereby they will work with, through, and sometimes around the people employed by their organization to bring its purpose to fulfillment by achieving its goals. Why does this project cause such great consternation on the part of my students? Much of their consternation is due to the fact that all of my students want to remake their organization in their image and likeness. In their mind’s eye, the perfect organization is where my students will be the “beloved leader.” Their subordinates will happily do whatever they are told, whenever they are told to do it, and however they are told to do it. Complicating that image of the perfect organization, my students then think, “Now, if I could just get rid of those problematic and troublesome employees who ruin everything, then this will be the perfect organization! Voila! Here’s the change plan…get rid of them all!” Unfortunately, that’s not the real world of leadership. In any real organization—whether it be a large multinational corporation consisting of 20,000 employees or the smallest and most important of all organizations, a marriage and family consisting of perhaps five or ten members—leading others is not a matter of simply getting rid of problematic and troublesome people in order to decrease the number of problems the leader will have to confront. No, the real world of leadership is about how the leader will work with, through, and sometimes around others—like them or not—to collaborate together to bring the organization’s purpose to fulfillment by achieving its goals. We simply do not have the luxury of Donald Trump to say to an apprentice, “You’re fired.” Jesus describes this very situation in today’s gospel when he proposed the parable of the man who sowed good seed in his field. When he finished sowing those seeds, the man presumably went home, had dinner, and then, to bed. While asleep, the sower’s enemy sowed weeds throughout the fields. It was not until after both types of seed had germinated and sprouted that the evil and dastardly deed was evident. But, the sower didn’t order his slaves to pick the weeds. Instead, they were to allow both plants to grow side-by-side until the harvest, when the weeds could be separated from the wheat. Jesus’ intention in telling his disciples this parable was to challenge them to consider how they think about themselves and their lives in relationship to God and other people. Think about it. Wouldn’t our lives be so much better and wouldn’t there be so much less hassle if everyone else was as perfect as we are? But, the simple fact is that everyone else isn’t as perfect as we are. They unnecessarily complicate our lives, don’t they? If we could just get rid of all of those people and the difficulties and problems they continuously present, our lives would be just about perfect, wouldn’t they? We might not want to admit it, but don’t we think about organizational change—whether it’s the organization we work for or the organization of our marriages and family—just like my graduate students think about how they will change their organizations? “If only everyone was made in my image and likeness, how happy we’d all be!” Or, failing that, “If only I could get rid of this person or that person or that group of people, life here would be the Garden of Eden!” While that may sound good, it just doesn’t make sense, does it? Well, how about the argument that we should “protect” ourselves from evildoers like all of those “weeds”? Well, the assumption here is that those evildoers will somehow infect us and keep us from growing to maturity, spiritually speaking. But, that’s just not the case with the weeds and the wheat. The weeds of the type Jesus was speaking about―the much-dreaded bearded darnel―protect themselves by intertwining their roots among those of other plants. If the sower told his slaves to root out the weeds, it was likely they would also root out the wheat. As the sower knew all too well (and likely, from first-hand experience), the only choice is to allow the weeds and the wheat to grow together so that at threshing time, to separate the two. So, here’s the deal: the weeds can’t do anything to hurt the wheat; no, only the person who attempts to separate the weeds from the wheat before both plants mature can hurt the wheat. Jesus tells this parable to get his disciples to think about themselves and their lives in relationship to God and other people. Critical in this regard is getting out of the habit of judging others, as if his disciples believe they are God. Instead, Jesus wants his disciples to learn patience and tolerance by living alongside the wheat and the weeds. Jesus is not telling them to approve of sinful behavior but, rather, not to condemn sinful people. Instead, Jesus’ disciples are to trust in God’s final judgment―the time of the harvest―when everyone has fully matured into either wheat or weeds. Being patient and tolerant is how Jesus’ disciples demonstrate the theological virtue of hope and, in particular, hope that people can and will change through the grace of God and the witness of the lives of Jesus’ disciples. For example, in our nation today there are numerous Catholic politicians whose stance on life issues contradicts Church teaching. Many well-meaning Catholics have urged their bishops to refuse Holy Communion to these politicians because they are creating scandal. Some bishop have responded publicly by saying they will disallow those Catholic politicians from Holy Communion. In response, these bishops have been applauded by those who rightly desire that all Catholics—and especially those in leadership positions—promote and defend the Church’s position on life issues. In this parable, however, Jesus seems to be recommending a different approach. When challenged to refuse Holy Communion to such Catholic politicians, a bishop might very well state: “I’m not in the judgment department. That’s located on the top floor. I’m down here in sales trying to save souls.” Understood from this perspective, the “householder” in this parable is God, not us. We are the “slaves,” God’s creatures. God has told us to leave the weeds alone, lest we pull up some of the good plants along with the bad. Because neither has grown to maturity, spiritually speaking, we cannot tell the difference between the two. Some plants might be good yet grow bad. Likewise, what looks bad today might mature as good tomorrow. Only at the end, the harvest when both come to maturity, will the difference between the two be amply evident. At that time, the householder—God—will do the judging—not us—the slaves. There is good reason to believe, accept, and live this teaching. Some people who once were thought to be the dregs of humanity have become great heroes, leaders, and examples for all to follow. Think about St. Paul who murdered Jesus’ followers. Consider St. Augustine who fathered a child out of wedlock. And that’s to say nothing about Fr. Kenneth Roberts the Catholic priest who wrote the bestselling autobiography, Playboy to Priest. All three appeared to be nothing more than “weeds.” But, to God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity,” what St. Paul, St. Augustine, and Fr. Kenneth Roberts truly were was not made known until each grew to maturity. What looked like weeds was, in reality, wheat that had yet to come to maturity. For most of us, that’s ancient history. What about today? How many of us consider members of our families, neighbors, or co-workers “weeds”? Perhaps it’s an in-law, your daughter’s current boyfriend or your son’s current girlfriend. Perhaps it’s your sister or brother. No matter. Whoever it is, that person (or those people) is (are) nothing more than weeds that are ruining our beautiful Garden of Eden. Would that they could be rooted out and gone! Yet, let’s think back a bit in time. Remember your high school years and all of the “wheat”— those “beautiful people”? those voted “most likely to succeed”? those selected as “most popular”? Remember the “weeds”—those “nerds” who did well academically? those “Cretans” who had neither grace nor elegance? those whose adolescent bodily features were the butt of many, many jokes and insults? If the truth be told, didn’t many of the “wheat” end up being “weeds” and many of the “weeds” end up being “wheat”? Just who was it we wished would be rooted out of our little high school’s Garden of Eden? In any organization—especially the organization of our marriages and families—change is arguably the greatest leadership challenge. Through the parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus is challenging his disciples to change how they think about themselves and their lives in relationship to God and others by adopting the gospel values of patience and tolerance by neither judging others―God will do that―nor by changing others―they have to decide to change themselves. In this way, Jesus’ disciples don’t hurt the “wheat”—those good people—by rooting out or the “weeds”—sinful people—who may yet mature into “wheat.” If Jesus disciples failed to do that, then they’d be nothing more than hypocrites, demonstrating for all to behold through their words and actions the firm yet erroneous belief that they are God and possess the right to remake others in their own image and likeness. “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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HOMILY
