Homily: Seventeenth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Seventeenth Tuesday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 13:36-43) “We All Consist of Sin and Virtue.”

Jesus was a great preacher. Great preachers usually are good story tellers. Jesus was a wonderful storyteller. In every era up to our own the major way that history and wisdom was passed on was through stories. Most people could not read so the oral tradition was very important in any culture. That was the case in Jesus’ time.

One of the wonderful forms of oral tradition in Biblical times was the telling of parables. It reminds us of the telling of fables in more recent times. We have all heard of Aesop’s Fables. Usually, they are about the interactions between animals. At the end of a fable, there was usually a moral to the story. Many times, that is spelled out for the person who hears the story.

The parables Jesus shared were open to interpretation. There is not a definitive moral to the story. One is left to reflect on the true meaning of the story. The parable that we heard about the weeds and the wheat gives an explanation. Scripture scholars would say that this explanation was added later by a redactor. This was often done as the Bible was put together over the centuries.

What might be one of the interpretations of this parable. One interpretation might be that our lives unfold over the course of time like wheat growing in a field. We have times when we are virtuous and fruitful, and we have other times when we are sinful and selfish. And then there are all those times in between. Good and bad get mixed together so we don’t know how to judge a person’s life, but it is not up to us to evaluate.

God is the one who brings in the harvest. God is the one that separates the weeds from the wheat. Our Lord sorts it all out. Fortunately, God is much more merciful than any of us.

Reflection Questions:

1.    What is one thing I am proud of in my life? What is one thing that I am not so proud of?

2.   How do I think God feels about my life? Do I have confidence in God’s mercy?

Dear Parishioners,

             This Wednesday night at 6:30 in the Damien Center at Sacred Heart church we will be having presentations about end-of-life issues. We will begin with a discussion of legal considerations. What about things like medical power of attorney, etc. We will then talk about hospice care. Then we will discuss funeral planning. Our parish staff will talk about liturgical planning. Finally, we will talk about what happens at the cemetery.

            If you would like to have some good information, come and listen and ask questions. We hope this will be helpful to everyone.

            May Our Lady of Sorrows pray for us,

            Fr. Mark