In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Friday 7 August 2020

Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Word for today
The Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30

Sow, do not pull up

It is the greatest of all deceptions. It entered into us forcefully and now it flows in our veins and in our mental circuits as a sacred and untouchable truth. Not having the vision of the One and the All, we have been feeding ourselves for millions of years on a gigantic and terrible lie that can poison our whole life and cause terrible pain and evil in the world. We think - on the basis of our judgment - that we must get rid of evil to overcome it, that we must fight evil to defeat it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing more than fighting evil can strenthen it in the world. Jesus says it with unmistakable clarity in the parable that tells about the farmer who sows good seeds while the enemy sows weeds in that same field. In that parable the servants who ask the householder to go into the field and pull the weeds up represent man's dangerous and deep-rooted conviction that it is possible to overcome evil by going into the field of the world to pull the evil up, to undo what the evil is constantly accomplishing.
This belief, which is deeply rooted in cultures and religions, multiplies the seeds of evil in the world exorbitantly. Each time a man goes into the field of life to unroot and destroy evil, he/she goes into the world as a servant of Satan and multiplies the seeds of evil. Jesus, the Lord of all things who knows One and the All, is very clear: Let them grow together until 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."
Jesus is very clear: evil is not to be undone, not to be fought and eradicated, because, according to laws that we do not fully understand, by doing just that evil multiplies and becomes stronger. Jesus is very clear. No efforts are to be made to eradicate evil, but all efforts should be made to reinforce good, the seed of happiness,  true well-being and justice. According to Jesus' Word, those who believe in Him cannot eradicate the seeds of evil from the field of life. It is not their task.
Men and women who decide to follow Jesus and the Gospel do not have to fight to eradicate evil but need to dedicate their efforts to multiplying the seeds of light and good. The task of God's true children  is to spread equity, not to undo injustices; it is to sow seeds of con-division, not to fight attachments and possession; it is to sow knowledge, not to fight ignorance. The task of the true children of God is to fill the field of the world with seeds of beauty, peace and harmony. No energy should be utilized to expose the seeds of  stupidity and injustice sown by the evil one. The task of the true children of God is to fill the world with love for the Lord of life and a deep respect for nature and all of creation, not to pose as champions of good and justice. No energy should be utilized to eradicate the subtle scheming of the Evil one. The task of the true children of God is to warm the world's heart with love, not to be preoccupied about the cold sown by the Evil One and his servants.
Beyond any human convention and conviction, this is the truth that Jesus clearly and plainly  reveals to us regarding evil and how to deal with it as long as we live on this earth. To eradicate the evil sown by the Evil One is not at all our task. Our task is to multiply the seeds of goodness, peace, justice, sharing, love, compassion and forgiveness. The rest is in God's hands and in His hands alone.
Man must not take the road against evil: the result would be evil to himself and to the world. Let them grow together until harvest. This is Jesus' firm command, because He knows that this is the only way God the Father's will can be fully accomplished, without being delayed by the ignorance and stupidity of people making enormous, unnecessary efforts to eradicate evil. Only 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."  God the Father knows when, how, and what to do to overcome the Evil one and his poisonous seeds, and Jesus reminds us what our task is and how to do it so that we do not interfere with God's will but are useful to the seeds of light.