by Fr. Tommy Lane
‘Nobody is perfect’ we say. Nobody is a saint until in heaven. One of the most revered holy people of our time is Padre Pio, now St. Pio. He became famous because he was the first priest in history with the stigmata, the five wounds that Jesus suffered; one in each hand, one in each foot and the wound in the side. He is well known as an extraordinary confessor who spent many hours each day in the confessional helping pilgrims who came to his monastery in San Giovanni in Italy. Many people have attributed miraculous healings to his intercession. During the Second Vatican Council in 1964 a friend of his wrote “so many bishops came to see him that sometimes it seems the Council is at San Giovanni.” (Alive July 1999 page 15) Undoubtedly he was a person who was very close to God. However there is also the weaker side to this holy man. “Late in 1965 his health began to decline rapidly, and he complained of “unbearable insomnia”. For a while he became dependent on anti-depressants. After several months he stopped taking them…” (Alive July 1999 page 15). It is a consolation to us to know that a person as holy as St. Pio also suffered human weakness. Nobody is perfect and nobody is a saint until in heaven.
That weakness in St. Pio reminds me of today’s Gospel parable about the weeds among the wheat. Good seed was sowed in St. Pio but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat. Both had to be left grow because rooting out the darnel might damage the wheat also. God, acting through our parents, family, teachers, priests, friends and others has sowed good wheat in each of us. But through no fault of our own, none of us is perfect. Each of us carries a weakness or flaw or failing. Despite all the good wheat sowed in us some enemy came by night when everybody was asleep and sowed darnel among the wheat. What do we do? Of course we try to become more like Jesus every day but we cannot but help being aware that we are sinners, that we have our faults, that we have weeds among our wheat. If we cannot completely overcome sinfulness then we have to patient as Jesus advised in the parable and allow God to take care of us during the harvest when life is over. Forgive yourself for any wrong you have done. Sometimes people are upset when talking to me about a mistake made in the past and find it difficult to forgive themselves. I ask them to repeat this: “I forgive myself for doing wrong and thinking that I have done wrong”. Repeating this for a little while helps people who are burdened with guilt. An enemy has sowed weeds among the wheat but let us be patient with ourselves and trust in Divine Mercy to look after us when it is time for the harvest.
Since each of us is a mixture of wheat and weeds, the entire Church is a mixture of wheat and weeds. The Church is a mixture of holy and unholy. “The Church is not a club for saints but a hospital for sinners” (I have seen this attributed to a number of different authors so I am unsure who is the author. One of my students said it is inscribed over a Church door somewhere in the west of Ireland). That phrase agrees very well with Jesus’ teaching in the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds today. “The Church is not a club for saints but a hospital for sinners”. Be patient with sinners. Let us not judge others. Leave judgment to God. Too often it is easier to see the weeds than to see the wheat. Remember what Jesus said on another occasion, “Take the plank out of your own eye first and then you will be able to see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.” Seeing weeds rather than wheat is the big problem with our news bulletins. There is far more wheat than weeds but very often in our news bulletins we are fed only on a diet of weeds.
Lord Jesus we are aware that each of us and the entire Church is a mixture of wheat and weeds. You sowed good seed in us but some enemy has come while everybody was asleep and sowed weeds in us. Help us to be patient with ourselves and others, to forgive ourselves and others, to accept ourselves and others with weeds among the wheat. Accepting ourselves and others with weeds among the wheat is what you ask of us today. In that way you give us room to grow so that we can produce a harvest for your kingdom. Lord Jesus we thank you that you accept us with our weeds among the wheat. With your help we will accept the weeds among our wheat and among the wheat of others.
This homily was delivered when I was engaged in parish ministry in Ireland before joining the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
More material for the Sixteenth Sunday Year A
Related Homilies: Second Reading, Rom 8:26 Spirit helping us pray Pentecost
Stories: Weeds among the Wheat, God’s Infinite Mercy (dialogue)