JULY 28, 2015

 

THE WHEAT AMONG THE WEEDS

 

I have a realization that I want to share with you this evening brothers. Please brace yourselves for what I’m going to tell you may be very new to you.  “We will all die”. Yes, you heard it right though it may sound ridiculous. How in the world, that all our efforts, all the hobbies we enjoy doing, all the noble acts we plan, all the people we love, and all the things we cherish will be like a sand castle that will crumble when the waves toss. Is it not very ironic that the moment we were born, we are already on our journey towards death. Indeed, it is. And there’s another problem, we don’t even know what lies ahead after death. However, God promises us eternity. There is something beyond our temporal world so we must believe that everything that is happening in this world has a purpose. It is now then up to us, what we are going to make of ourselves. Wheat or Weed?

 

It is an obvious fact that we are all capable of doing good as well as evil deeds. In my case, there’s always this strong temptation to lie, to make fun of the weakness of others, to boast, to be lustful, to gossip, to be unfaithful and so on, but there’s something inside me that hinders me from doing it though. I believe that this maybe is the good seed that God sow in me the moment I came into existence. We all have goodness in our hearts but the devil always challenges this goodness in us. The evil comes in many forms. It may be in the form of power, pornographic materials, money, drugs, pride, and other wicked things.  In my personal experience, I believe in the times of temptation. I can only ask God for deliverance and give my best struggle to resist it, for I cannot do it alone. It is only through God’s grace that I will be able to overcome them.

        

I will admit it that there are times when I judge other people without even knowing the whole story. I have a tendency of labeling and classifying people based from my first impressions or solely because of his/her appearance. Most of the times my judgments are based only from a fraction of the story. Whenever I hear people who are misbehaving or doing bad things, I’m being hasty in condemning them, I want to get rid of them. But the Gospel today warns me against judging others and reminds me that I must not be too quick to classify and label others.  The truth is I cannot fully understand the ultimate significance and worth of another person. I also have my own flaws.

 

In the parable of the wheats and the weeds, the workers wanted to pull up the weeds but the farmer refused, for by doing so, it may also uproot the wheats. The farmer wanted them to wait until harvest time. Likewise, Jesus teaches us to trust God and be patient. In the end everything’s going to makes sense. Even though I cannot understand why bad people or why evil exists today, I have to trust in God’s wisdom. He knows everything. It has a purpose, and for the mean time my duty is to patiently wait and give my best struggle to God.  I’d all love God to do more and to act faster in bringing in his kingdom but Jesus is in the Gospel is teaching me patience – the patience of a God who chooses to delay his judgment. He gives us not just a second chance but a lifetime chance. God is not in a rush and I must be willing to trust him and wait for his time. In the end, God will win and good will overcome evil.

        

As I end my reflection this evening, let me tell you a story brothers. It is about a seminarian who in his fourth year in the formation commit a grave academic offense.  The date was January, 2013. He was a caught cheating in their preliminary exam in theodicy which brought his studies in jeopardy. He begged not to be kicked out. But the rule is the rule. He was expelled from the school as well from their seminary, though as a consideration he was given the chance to finish the semester.  He felt so helpless at that time. He didn’t know what will happen next. He didn’t know if he can still continue his course because they only have a modest living. He was so afraid. He didn’t know how he will tell his parents this unfortunate news. And so he prayed hard to God to give him courage, and the God who is ever merciful granted it to him. He was able to tell it to his parents and to the person who is supporting his studies when he was in the seminary. He expected that they will be angry at him, or yell at him, or scold him but he got a different response. They just remained calm. He tried to look for any sign of disappointments in their eyes. But there’s only tears and love.

 

They remained to believe and support him. The one who supported him in the seminary even assured him of a continual support. And the young man realizing how blessed he is, and how compassionate and merciful God is promised to move forward and composed himself, determine to achieve his dreams. He learned his lesson that whatever he does may affect his life. So the rest is history. He was able to find a new school and continued his course until he got a degree. After his graduation, he prepared himself for a bigger journey. A month passed and he re-entered a seminary.  And the last time I checked… He is just a minute away from ending his sharing. The young man is in front of you this evening, narrating his own story.

 

Along the way, I realized that our faults have some benefits. First, they keep us humble and second is they keep us honest so that we won’t approach others with judgment. Moreover, our faults can remind us to cherish our virtues and use them to love others. There is truly a value in knowing both my capacity for evil and for my capacity of Good. We are not perfect beings and the only thing we can do is to give him our best struggle. Even when we flounder and fall and stumble, He’ll know if we gave Him my best struggle. He’ll know and he’ll tell me to struggle again. And so if my time comes, I will be judge. But I must not be afraid, for God’s judgment is fair. Truly, Love is kind and merciful.