Tuesday in the 17th Week of Ordinary Time, July 30, 2024

Matthew 13, 36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, the Lord explains the parable which he told in Matthew 13, 24-30.  He reveals to his Apostles, through his explanation, the workings of Divine Providence: that all things inescapably work together for the accomplishment of God’s will.

“The good seed [is] the children of the Kingdom.”  These “children” are of the Kingdom of heaven.  They are the ones whom Almighty God has foreseen, from all eternity, will belong to him: the men, women, and children who will avail themselves of the graces won for them by the Lord Jesus and who will choose to live for him, according to his commandments.   On the other hand, “the weeds are the children of the Evil One.”  They are said to be the devil’s “children” because they imitate the devil in his pride, his malice and in his evil works: “You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of lies” (John 8, 44).  The “children of the Kingdom” practice virtue and seek the conversion of the wicked; “the children of the Evil One” seek to corrupt and destroy those who love God.  No one and no thing compels a person to do evil, anymore than a person can be forced to perform virtuous acts.  Just as in the case with the “children of the Kingdom”, so Almighty God foresees those who will reject him and act wickedly.  

The Lord Jesus explains that the “field” is the world.  If this is so, why are there only two kinds of plants in it, the wheat and the weeds?  Does it not stand that there would be room for, say, the indifferent?  The Lord speaks to this: “He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathers not with me, scatters” (Matthew 12, 30).  Almighty God desires the salvation of all, but he will not force anyone to be saved.  Love cannot be forced from a person with free will, nor can anyone be forced to be happy.  Therefore, it is right and just that “all who cause others to sin and all evildoers” will be cast “into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”  To those appalled by the unimaginable suffering of the wicked, and who cannot reconcile this with a God of love and mercy, we should say that it is no mercy for the wicked to be forced into heaven.  As John Henry Newman noted, it would be greater suffering for the wicked to see the bliss of heaven enjoyed by the saints than for them to burn in hell forever.

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.”  They shall shine in their goodness, for they will wear the immaculate robes of their good deeds.  As St. John writes, “For the marriage of the Lamb is come: and his Bride [the saints] has prepared herself.  And it is granted to her that she should clothe herself with fine linen, glittering and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Revelation 19, 7-8).  

“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”  With this idiom, the Lord advises his Apostles not only to hear and understand his words, but to take them to heart: for the Hebrew word that is translated as “to hear” also has the meaning of “to obey”.