Jesus tells a second parable about sowing seeds, This time it’s about two sowers — one who sows good seed to grow wheat, and the enemy who sows weeds among the wheat. What strikes me is the line that says: “Jesus proposes in the parable: the sower went out and sowed a field. This Parable seems fitting for us at this time when four of our Sisters will be moving to a new location. This will offer us a new field to sow the seeds of Benedictine values among the residents at American House Assisted Living facility.
A bit of botany is helpful in understanding Jesus’ parable as Matthew interprets it for us. He uses the Greek term zizania, which in modern botanical terms, refers to a noxious weed that closely resembles wheat. The difference is that real wheat is heavy while the ears of the darnel stand up straight.
When the householder’s slaves notice those up-right weeds, their first response is to question the quality of the seed. The master defends himself: No, No! An Enemy must have mixed in some bad seed! The farmhands are anxious to uproot the nasty weeds. But the master restrains them explaining that when they gather the wheat they can sort out the nasty Zizanias. He orders them to let both grow together until the harvest. Then he will send reapers to collect and burn the weeds and gather the wheat into his barn.
In telling this parable, Jesus holds out hope for those who stumble, even those whom Jesus calls stumbling blocks. We may consider overzealous “weeders” as stumbling blocks in our faith community. You know them: they are those who want to purify the community by rooting out the bad seed. They whip themselves into a weeding frenzy, certain that they know the difference between weeds and wheat, and that they know how to deal with the weeds! But Jesus’ parable makes clear that any attempt to root out the weeds will only do more damage to the crop.
Thank God it is not up to us! We can leave the weeding and sorting to the angels, and get on with the mission Jesus has given us: Proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God with a Benedictine flavor. That in all things God may be gloried.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
