WEEDS OF PAIN

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Wis. 12:13, 16-19, Ps.86, Rom.8:26-27, Mt.13:24 – 30

I guess, we are all familiar with our Gospel this Sunday, the parable of the weeds among the wheat. And just like any kind of story which always has a moral lesson, this parable would simply teach us about good and evil, the holy and the vain, saints and sinners. That evil will always be with us in our journey. That time will come when evil will be “collected and tied for burning.” However, in this homily, let me bring you into a more personal reflection on the parable.

Let us consider the field as ourselves. And like the parable, in life, we have also a share of “good seeds” – a happy family, a supportive husband, a beautiful and loving wife, a stable job, etc. And all these seeds are worthy of growing in our fields, in our lives. However, the parable also tells us that bad seeds were also thrown by the enemies into the field. And that the landowner decided not to uproot the weeds in order not to harm the wheat. In life, we cannot also deny the existence, the growth of “bad seeds” – marital problems, financial difficulties, the pain of loneliness, the grief of losing someone we hold dear. All these are the bad seeds in our lives which we cannot run away from. They are and will always be part of our lives.

It’s easy to deal with the good seeds – the happy days and friendships true in our lives. We always capture the moments. Post them on Facebook. Tweet them on Twitter. And even make a collage of them on Instagram. But how are we to deal with the “bad seeds” in life? Since, they grow together with the good seeds for some time. How are we to face and experience pain and suffering?

If you have seen the movie, The Fault in Our Stars, which is about the love story of two young cancer patients, Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster. In one scene, Augustus brought Hazel to his home. And one of the “positive” therapies at home was to post food for thoughts anywhere inside the home. And in one corner, one can read, PAIN NEEDS TO BE FELT. PAIN NEEDS TO BE FELT. And I think this is the answer to the question which I posed earlier. How are we to deal with pain? PAIN NEEDS TO BE FELT. Pain and suffering demand to be felt; no denial, no sugarcoating. We do not pull up the weeds in life. We have to carry them just as Jesus carried and remained fastened to his cross. He did not run away. He embraced the pain of the cross until the very end.

However, I am not promoting here a “sadista” mentality! I am not promoting here to always pray for pain. Instead of saying, Give us this day our daily bread, we say, “Give us this day our daily problems, sufferings, etc.” The pain which I am stressing here is the result of a choice to be good and holy. In our gospel, the landowner chose to sow good seeds. Yet, his enemy, probably, out of jealousy, planted bad seeds. The same is true in our lives. The moment we decide to become good and holy is also the same moment when the evil one will sow bad seeds in life. The moment Jesus chose to do the will of his Father was also the same moment when Satan offered him the lures of the world.

Now the final question is: Why do we need to embrace the pain – the weeds? What assurance can we get that all will be well in the end? Are we really sure that the time for gathering and tying up of the weeds for burning would really come? Our two readings and responsorial Psalm give us the answer.

In our first reading, the book of Wisdom tells us that God is a God who cares for all, that He gives his sons and daughters a good ground for hope. In our responsorial psalm, the Psalmist tells us that the Lord is good and forgiving. And in our second reading, St. Paul tells us that the Spirit of the Lord will come to aid us in our weaknesses. Simply said, we do not worry with the weeds in life. We do not run away from pain because the God in whom we believe is a God of LOVE! He is a God who has loved us with an everlasting love!  He cares for us! He assists us in our weaknesses! He is loving and forgiving! As Christians, this is our challenge today in a world that does not like pain, that runs away from suffering. We have to tell the world that the pain which results from our choice to be good and holy is never to be avoided because we are never alone in our journey. We have a God who loves us far greater than any kind of love! Todd, in the movie, Heaven Is for Real, tells us, “The only thing God’s love requires is that I let others know that they’re not alone.” Let your neighbor, your family, your friends know that they are not alone in their suffering because God loves them!

In one of their conversations, again from the movie, The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel told Augustus, “I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up. And I would like to minimize the casualties.” She was as if telling Augustus, You cannot love me because any time I will die. Unfortunately, at the end of the movie, it was Augustus who died first. And he left a note to Hazel which was somehow an answer to that earlier conversation. He said, “You do not get to choose if you get hurt in this world… but you do have a say in who hurt you. And I like my choices.”

We cannot escape the hurts and wounds in this world. But we can always choose on who can hurt us. And I hope and pray, that we choose that hurt, that pain which is a result of our decision to love and follow the Lord. And I hope and pray, that we will like our choice. After all, this God who has called us to be like Him is a God who loves us more today than yesterday. Amen!