Matthew 13:24-43 24Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants of the householder came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 28He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" 31Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." 34All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. 35This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." 36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. I notice from the Gospel that the weeds the evil ones are to be taken (killed) by the angels the good on the other hand are to be left behind and gathered into the barn (the Church). This is in line with Catholic Prophecy regarding the three days of darkness.
A thought came to me when reading this part of this Scripture passage: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Are we like a mustard seed? We are tiny, maybe unnoticeable and if dropped in the wrong place would remain that way. But, when dropped on good soil and given the graces to grow, we can become into the greatest of shrubs - a tree where the birds can find REFUGE from their prey. I wonder if this is what we are being reminded of here? We think ourselves small and tiny (and we are in many ways) but God has a plan to let this tiny seed become larger and be a place where others will come for rest?
39: and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. This surely is our time in history as we have entered into the "close of the age". I was talking to my wife last night about this very thing, how we were chosen to be in the most prophetic/biblical moment in salvation history. It is bound to be a roller coaster ride for all. This is not going to be another 'great depression' that my parents and grandparents went through. We will be watching the whole world geographically change during this 'close of the age'. Terrifying, yet privelaged.
When I listened to the Gospel this morning I kept wondering whether I was a weed or wheat... I'd like to believe I am wheat, but does one ever really know? Perhaps we are both at one time or another... At least the master of the harvest is patient with us (although that patience may be running out). I pray that we may all be good wheat!!
I've been both, but thanks to God's mercy I have accepted his forgiveness and like St. Paul, "I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling". Once you die to grave sin you become a new person and God is offended when we question his mercy. So I try to not look back, but ahead. My darkness is in the past and now I chose to live in the light where God's mercy lives. Be at peace.
I sometimes think that those who fear God least should fear Him most , whilst those who fear Him most could lay greatest claim to His mercy. Jesus indicates this Himself: Matthew 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Both sets of people are surprised , the evil because they have got the thumbs down and the righteous because they have gotten the thumbs up. Both seem to rather have expected the opposite.
There is another part of Scripture I noticed during the week which resembles the Three Days of Darkness. Moses goes up Sinai to receive the ten commandments. But while up there the Hebrews give up on Moses and have a false God made in the image of a Golden Bull. When Moses came back down Moses had all who worshiped the false bull slaughtered in a great killing by the tribe of Levi. The rest were forced to eat the golden bull. This , it seems to me , is very symbolic of the Three Days of Darkness. When all who worship false Gods will die.
We had a very special and unexpected gift today at our parish - we had a visiting ArchBishop from Nigeria say Mass. He had been assigned to our parish all the way back in 1997 as a priest and he wanted to visit us again as an Archbishop! His homily was very powerful. He suggested that often people want to do exactly what the servants in the parable wanted to do - pull up and kill the weeds, to get rid of them. It can even be the tendency in our own lives - to ostracize, to send away, to avoid and yes in a sense to kill the "weeds" in our lives. But, in this parable, we are being taught that God says no to that ; he instructs for us to leave it along with the wheat and in the end HE will take care of it. God is all powerful and will demand justice, but He is also merciful. It is HIS choice. I was happy to hear this preached to me today
its wonderful how a hundred different people can listen to the same Gospel and get a hundred wonderful meanings out of it.
Our homily today was from a young new priest. He said God wants to keep the weeds... By removing the weeds we loose free will and the choice to do good and be the wheat! It makes sense... He used St maximilian kolbe as the example! Even my children thought it was a good homily!
So even the weeds have a job to do. ..and a hope for change. I suppose the Good Thief on Calvary would have agreed.
The homily at mass today from a very holy Marian priest in his 90's in County Galway was about fearing the end times, which he said we shouldn't if we had enough trust in God. It was a beautiful mass ended in the prayer to St Michael the Archangel.
I think we all have been weeds but when we truly confess God changes us back to wheat. We can all be either just like we can be the Pharisee instead of the publican and we can be the bad thief instead of the good thief on the cross. I feel the fact that we wonder which one we are though tells us we are the good thief who repents at the last minute and is changed from weeds to wheat.
I also think it is a good lesson for us to avoid the urge to pull up and throw away the weeds that surround us- maybe family,colleagues, even enemies as God is not done with them yet. Maybe this is what Pope Francis has been teaching us all along since he became the Holy Father? He has said who was he to judge others? I remember at the time, what an uproar this cause and I also wondered about it. But this gospel shines new light on it for me. Yes, I'm more convinced than ever that Our Papa is indeed a holy man who thinks with the eternal in mind and is trying to bring God's mercy to all.
Our priest explained that in the agriculture of Jesus' day, the plant He is referring to (can't remember the name of the bush) indeed looked exactly like the weeds until the time came for the bearing of the plant's fruit and then the difference was visible. They had to wait for the fruit to come to bear because if any of the particular weed he also named got into the wheat, it would literally poison/ruin the entire bunch and be inedible. He likened the time waiting for fruit to bear then to our day now as the time of Grace and Mercy that God is allowing mankind now to repent, change and have fruit bloom before His day of Justice arrives.
Last night, just as I was falling asleep, I saw a series of normal and even beautiful faces of people I didn't know, and each one quickly morphed into a hideous face. It seemed a demonstration of how the true nature of everyone will quickly be revealed. I think we will be surprised to see wheat and chaff, sheep and goats, quickly identified. Even though so much time has been given for conversion, like the game of musical chairs, eventually the music will stop and the time for our decision will end. Please God, may we all land in chairs, in the lap of our Mother!
There was an earlier apparition of hell at Medugorje I believe in which the children were shown hell. As they watched men and women who entered hell were transformed in bestial forms. Don't ask me for a link to this , i have never been able to find it. ..and there are thousands of apparitions from there. But it always struck me it was good theology.
http://www.medjugorje.com/medjugorj...ries-of-seeing-heaven-purgatory-and-hell.html Two of the Medjugorje visionaries, Vicka and Jakov, were physically taken to Heaven, Purgatory, and hell. The other visionaries were shown a vision of Heaven, Purgatory, and hell. Our Lady told the visionaries that many people do not believe that Heaven, Purgatory, and hell exist and that She desired the visionaries to be witnesses of their existence through their experiences. The following puts together the most detailed description of the visionaries’ experiences using their own words. In an interview with Vicka, Fr. Janko Bubalo asked Vicka questions about her experiences. Fr. Bubalo: “You told me, and I read it in one of your notebooks, that on All Soul’s Day, 1981, you, the Seers – and all of you were gathered except Ivan, the Virgin showed you Heaven. It is recorded that Heaven is inexpressibly beautiful, with a multitude of people and angels. And when you asked the Virgin why She showed you Heaven, it is noted in the journal that She said so that you might see what it would be like for those who remain faithful to God. It is also added that Ivanka saw her deceased mother there, and another woman known to her… “…Let me remind you of this too: just four days later, it is noted in that journal that the Virgin suddenly, as though at once, disappeared, and that hell appeared before you. That was observed by you, Jakov, and Marija. It is recorded that it was awful! Like a sea of flame. Within a large group of people. It is stated that in the midst of all was seen a blonde longhaired woman with horns, and that the devils are leaping toward her from all sides. Something like that…Did the Virgin tell you why She showed you that? Vicka: “Yes, yes! She told us that She showed it to us so that we might know what it is like for those who go there.” Fr. Bubalo: “…The Virgin took you and Jakov somewhere to show you Heaven and hell…tell me about it now as fully as possible. Vicka: “…Fifteen days – I don’t know exactly – after this vision of hell…I and Jakov went to Citluk for something. We returned about three in the afternoon. We stopped at my house a bit, and then continued on to Jakov’s to return him safely to his mother…His mother was out somewhere, and the Virgin appeared to us immediately. She greeted us with ‘Praised be Jesus!’ and said to us that She would take us to Heaven…We became frightened. Jakov began to cry. He said he wouldn’t go since he is his mother’s one and only, and that I should go by myself. Fr. Bubalo: And the Virgin? Vicka: She said nothing. We were still kneeling. She took me by the right hand, and Jakov by the left hand and stood between us, with Her face toward us, and we immediately began to lift upward…straight up through the ceiling. The house disappeared, and we were off…It seemed to me that we went upward…1 Jakov was questioned about his experience with Heaven, Purgatory, and hell in a talk he gave to pilgrims in Medjugorje on October 12, 2007: “…when Our Lady took us to Heaven, I was very afraid. I was only eleven and when Our Lady told us that She was going to take us with Her, I didn’t want to go with Her. I was afraid I would die. And I said to Our Lady, ‘why don’t you take Vicka only. Her mother has eight children and I am the only child my mother has.’”2 In another interview, Vicka stated: Vicka: “The Blessed Mother has shown me Heaven, hell, and Purgatory…Many people today do not believe there is a place or state of life after death of the body. They believe that when we die, life is over. The Blessed Mother says no; on the contrary, we are only passengers on earth. She has come to remind us of the eternal truths of the Gospel. Question: Are Heaven and hell actual places? Vicka: Yes. I saw them. Question: How? Vicka: Two ways – I saw with my eyes… And then I visited these places. Jakov and I were taken there by the Blessed Mother.”3 Marija was interviewed by a Friend of Medjugorje on November 6, 1986 about her visions of Heaven, Purgatory, and hell. The following is part of the interview: Question: “When you saw the vision of Heaven, did you see Purgatory at the same time? Marija: “I saw all the visions at the same apparition – Heaven, Purgatory, and hell. Question: “Has Our Lady ever revealed to you if a soul in Purgatory can be lost and go to hell? Marija: “No, once they are in Purgatory, they can only go to Heaven. Question: “In your opinion, some people that are constantly going from good to bad, bad to good, good to bad, yet love God, will they go to hell? Marija: “I don’t know. When a man dies, God gives him special graces and blessings to decide where he should go himself. God gives him a scene, reviewing his whole life, what he has done in his life, and so God gives him graces to decide where he should go, according to his life. He has a free choice. Question: “Well, say that you deserve hell but you want to go to Heaven. What happens then because didn’t God give you a choice? Marija: “Yes, but God gives you these special graces to understand fully so you will only answer truthfully. Question: “So, He gives you so many graces you say, ‘God, I don’t deserve Heaven, I deserve hell or Purgatory.’ – like truth serum? Marija: “Yes, correct. Question: “So, God never sends anyone to hell, they decide it themselves? Marija: “Yes, we are judges to our life. Question: “So when it is stated, ‘God sends no one to hell, they send themselves,’ it means just that? Marija: “Yes, correct. Question: Have you, Marija, ever asked Our Lady if you will go to Heaven, like Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia of Fatima did? They asked Our Lady, ‘Are we to go to Heaven?’ and She told them, ‘Yes.’ Marija: “No, I have never asked Her that! Question: “Are you scared? Marija: “I would be happy to be behind the gates in Paradise, if only I could be there.”4 Marija also adds from another interview: Marija: “We choose Heaven, hell, or Purgatory for ourselves. The Blessed Mother explained to me that at death we are the same person we are in life, though we no longer have the use of our body. It returns to the earth. We receive the light at death to see the plan God has had for us from the beginning. We then understand how we have chosen to comply with His Divine plan. In the light of truth, we know where we belong, where we fit, and we choose Heaven, hell, or Purgatory.”5
Sometimes what throws me is seeing a young person pass me by, young, very good looking, in the prime of life and to see that their soul is totally dark and rotten and leprous within them. A dwelling place of demons. It is the extraordinary frightening contrast between outward appearance and inward spiritual reality. One thing amongst many frightens and touches me about such souls is how on Earth they gave themselves so entirely to evil that their souls are rotten at such a young age. Saving such souls from hell would be very, very hard. How they managed to go so far down the dark road in such a short span of years. Yet we are in a situation now were evil has been passed on from generation to generation of evil. No God in their parents, their grandparents their great grand parents. No not a chink of light anywhere. It is almost as though they were born for hell. Yet on the outside they look wonderful. I feel so sorry for our Christian young people , they encounter these dark folk and have no idea what they are up against.
