Sixteenth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: Wake Up Calls 暮鼓晨鐘
When we return to Ordinary Sundays again after the Easter Season, we contemplate the teachings of Jesus Christ in details. In previous weeks, we meditated on Jesus’ giving the Twelve the authority to exorcise, to cure diseases and to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 10:7-8). He also warned them beforehand of the obstacles and persecutions they would encounter during this evangelization mission which is the raison d’etre of the very existence of the People of God. The Church exists to proclaim the good news of reconciliation until the end of the age. Paul says, “Woe to me if I do not preach it (the gospel)” (1 Corinthians 9:16b). Now that we have the duty to preach it, we have the responsibility to know what the “Kingdom of Heaven” is. The concept of “kingdom” seems to be irrelevant in modern world where very few countries are likely to retain the institution of monarchy.
It is probably correct to say that kings should never have existed. In ancient times, gods were the emperors sitting on the heads of human beings. Nowadays most people don’t believe in gods but believe that all men are equal. It is not right for a single person or a minority of elites to enjoy more privileges than the rest. On the other hand, some kind of a leader will definitely arise when men live in a community. They need to work together to do big projects for the continual existence of the community. It is not wrong for the majority to give up some freedom and privileges so that the leaders to facilitate their service. Therefore, on a social level, leaders whether they are kings/queens, chairpersons, presidents, CEO’s or what not have to exist for the well-being of a group be they empires, republics and corporations etc. Therefore, in between those two ages, kings replaced gods to lead the commoners to fulfil their personal ambitions. Christians are not minorities in the world. We believe that God is the Creator of this known universe. Logically, He has sovereignty over and above everything imaginable. Therefore, the “Kingdom of Heaven” is relevant today and even the future as long as there are Christians on earth.
For at least three consecutive Sundays, the gospel readings focus on the “Kingdom of Heaven”. The concept of a kingdom as a social institution is already a complicated one, not to mention the “Kingdom of Heaven”. How do you convey the message to the crowd? Jesus chose to tell them in parables which are short stories about familiar things in our daily life: farming, fishing, salt, light, leaven, plants, pearls, sparrows and dogs etc. They are easy to understand and remember. Of course, we don’t expect those simple stories to be able to describe the concept completely. One parable may be able to describe one aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven only but together, they will be able to paint a more nearly complete picture of the whole. Thus, Jesus tells us many parables about the “Kingdom of Heaven”. He would explain some parables to the Twelve only. The “Weeds in the Field Parable” which we read today is one of them (Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43).
In the parable when the servants see the wheat and weeds grow up together, they suggest pulling the weeds up. The master replied, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them” (13:29). The Lord is actually saying, underneath the ground, the roots of wheat and the roots of weeds entangle with each other. Pulling one up would uproot the other as well. How should we understand this in our reality?
In our daily life, we do see wicked people and righteous people mingle together. We can only judge them by what we can observe on the outside, their words and deeds. However, deep within our hearts and souls, there is a humanity common to all, some essence that makes us human, not animals or robots. I think this humanity, this “image of God” (Genesis 1:26) is “the roots” the Lord refers to in the parable. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they lost the Original Graces which God gave them when they were first created. When those graces are depleted, the “image of God” began to deteriorate, some faster while others slower depending on the environment in which they live. Assuming that they start on the same footing, the righteous may be those who deteriorate slower but it is possible that they may turn bad. Similarly, the wicked may be those who deteriorate faster but we cannot deny the possibility that they may turn good. The prophet says, “When the just turn away from justice to do evil and die, on account of the evil they did they must die. But if the wicked turn from the wickedness they did and do what is right and just, they save their lives” (Ezekiel 18:26-27). It takes time for both the righteous and the wicked to prove themselves!
On the other hand, the existence of evil can also be a wakeup call! In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us to be mournful (Matthew 5:4). We mourn when we’re painful. Who on earth wants to endure pains. Alas! Prosperity has taken away our awareness of the importance of pains. Most people seek comfort as well as gratification and avoid pains and sorrows. How are pains essential for us?
First of all, pains remind us not to make the same mistakes that cause pains. We don’t need to make the mistakes ourselves. Seeing others suffer is enough to alert us of the issues. Of course, “Skin for skin” (Job 2:4), when pains touch our bones and flesh, our learning will be deep and long lasting! For example, how many of us mourn for the evil of “human trafficking”, especially youngsters? No we don’t because human trafficking is NOT happening in this city nowadays. How many of us feel the bites of food prices because supply chains are disrupted by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine? No we don’t because we can afford the prices! That’s a serious spiritual problem. Where has our righteousness gone? Our hearts are in the danger of hardening and becoming complacent!
Secondly, in our comfort zone, everything is under control. We can handle everything efficiently with minimum efforts. In this case, at least two dangers are waiting to ambush us. Since we are in control, we are in the danger of playing God ourselves. We simply don’t need a Saviour God anymore! This is the first danger. The second danger is burying our talents in the ground (Matthew 25:25)! Then a lot of our potentials remain dormant because we don’t need to conjure them up to deal with adversities while we are hiding and enjoying inside our comfort zone. In this case, we need God to break into our comfort zone. Let me assure you, it is going to be excruciating but healing at the same time. We need to conjure up our potentials to put up a fight against evil. We need to continue to do the right things. Going against the worldly current is surely painful but it makes us strong and unleashes our potentials.
Brethren! Let’s pray to our merciful Lord who has ventured into the fearful realm of sins and death to break a new path for us to follow; ask Him to grant us graces and allow us to follow His footsteps to conquer death! Amen!
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: orthochristian.com
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