by Fr. Tommy Lane
In other places in the world, a Catholic school is very different to here. Here our Catholic schools have everything, including the teachers’ salaries, paid by the government. In Catholic schools elsewhere in the world, everything is paid by the parents. In a parish where I gave a parish mission, the children in the Catholic school went to Mass during school every week and went every day during Lent. Parents make sacrifices to pay to send their children to such Catholic schools because they want their children to have the best foundation possible for their future lives. When those children grow up, some continue to live by the Catholic faith but unfortunately some do not despite the sacrifices their parents made to send them to a Catholic school. Why not? The answer is in today’s parable from Jesus: an enemy did this (Matt 13:28).
I am surprised sometimes to hear people say when something bad happens that it was sent by God. Although God is in charge of everything, and therefore we would say allows everything, I would not say God sends bad things. Every time God created in Genesis, we read that everything God created was good (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). God does not send bad things. From where do they come? From the same person as Jesus talks of in today’s parable: an enemy did this (Matt 13:28). Who is this enemy? Jesus explains near the end of our Gospel today—the devil (Matt 13:39). Only good things come from heaven; bad things come from hell. There is a spiritual battle going on around us and we are caught up in that spiritual battle from birth. Spiritually, we are all in Ukraine, a battle between good and evil.
Jesus sows good seed in the field which he says is the world. Jesus says the good seed is the children of the kingdom. Thank God that we see good seed all around us in so many ways. Jesus said the field is the world and the weeds in the field are the children of the evil one. As well as seeing weeds in the world, I think we can also see weeds in the Church and in each of ourselves. There have always been weeds in the Church from the beginning. There have been heretics in every century trying to change the Church’s teaching to suit themselves. So we should not be surprised if we see weeds now also. When we see and hear different interpretations of what is important in our faith, how do we make a decision on what is right and what is not? How can we decide what is Catholic and what is not? How can we decide what is good seed and what is a weed? One help has been given to us by St. Vincent of Lérins who said that the Catholic faith is that which
has been believed everywhere, that is, all over the world (which is what the word “Catholic” means)
has been believed always, that is, going back to the time of the apostles without change and
has been believed by everyone.
As time went by, with the help of councils, we understood the divinity of Jesus better or received a clearer expression or definition of Our Lady’s role in our salvation, but they added nothing new or changed nothing but clarified what was already going back to the beginning of the Church. So when we hear interpretations and opinions of what is Catholic, one way to decide what is a good seed and what is a weed, is that help given us by St. Vincent of Lérins: what is Catholic is the faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by everyone.
There can also be weed in ourselves because even though original sin is washed from us at baptism, it leaves effects. We can always turn to Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for his mercy and forgiveness when we see weeds in ourselves. Jesus is always waiting to forgive us, to lift us up again.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Sixteenth Sunday of Year A
Remove your weeds instead of judging others’ weeds 2008
Stories: Weeds among the wheat: God’s infinite mercy (a dialogue)