Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mt 13:24-43
July 23, 2023

Our Gospel is long. Matthew reports three parables and then goes on to give the detailed explanation that Jesus reserved for His disciples. Moreover, it ends on what seems to be a pretty threatening note, which makes it challenging to harmonize with the first two Readings, which are filled with hope. It’s hard to put all of the pieces together!

A few Sundays back, we heard The Lord declare: Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to little ones. So, it might be helpful to approach these Readings like little ones…playing with a child’s puzzle.

Very early on, children learn to look for the corner pieces first. It’s easy to find the four corner pieces. I think that the four corners of the picture that will emerge when this Scripture puzzle is assembled are SIN, PATIENCE, HUMILITY, and REDEMPTION.

SIN is very much the point of the little stories that Jesus used to teach the crowds about the Kingdom of Heaven. Evil inclinations invade the lives of even the holiest people. Temptation infects everyone’s life, threatening to overwhelm all that is good and life-giving.

But, just as children learn to be patient as they go about putting a puzzle together, The Lord stresses the need to be patient with ourselves as we deal with our “dark sides.” And so, the next corner of the puzzle is PATIENCE. If we act rashly in our efforts to rid ourselves of anything that makes us less than God created us to be, we risk somehow damaging our spiritual growth and development. This is another way of saying that conversion is a slow, methodical, thoughtful, and lifelong process that requires self-restraint and endurance.

Our Second Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans is extremely helpful in finding the third corner of our puzzle, which is HUMILITY.

Paul reminds us of a reality that we often try to deny. We are weak. In fact, it is our poor choices and bad decisions that sap our spiritual energy and strength. But the Holy Spirit comes to the rescue…especially when we are willing to humble ourselves, by acknowledging our shortcomings and failures and accepting the incredibly powerful help of the Holy Spirit.

Elsewhere, St. Paul teaches us that when we are weak…it is then we are strong. When we stand humbly before our God, acknowledging our weakness and asking for help in the fight against temptation and sin…The Spirit comes rushing in to re-arm us.

Which leaves the fourth corner of the puzzle…REDEMPTION!

The passage from the Book of Wisdom concludes: You gave your children good reason for hope that you would permit repentance for their sin. And so, the frame for the three Readings concludes with God’s promise of forgiveness for those who acknowledge their SIN, commit to the lifelong process of conversion with PATIENCE, and accept the help of the Holy Spirit with HUMILITY.

But it seems necessary to consider the rather threatening reference to the “fiery furnace” and the “weeping and grinding of teeth.”

It might help to imagine our lives like a jigsaw puzzle…coming together piece by piece…year by year…decision by decision…choice by choice.

When it is finally completed and the Just Judge looks down on the picture that has emerged, there will most likely be some pieces that have been damaged over time, or possibly forced into the wrong place, or maybe even lost. It is then that the lenience and clemency of God (specifically referred to in our First Reading) takes over. It is as if God removes from the picture and disposes of anything that detracts from what is pleasing to our Creator. What remains is a picture made “righteous” by God’s infinite mercy and unconditional love.

Although SIN is almost unavoidable, when we PATIENTLY set out on a path of conversion, HUMBLY acknowledging that we are too weak to do it on our own and accepting the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can hope for REDEMPTION.

Even a sinner can hope to, someday, “shine like the sun” in the Kingdom of God.