Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(07/19/2026) Gospel Reading: Mathhew 13:24-43

“The Righteous Will Shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of Their Father”

 

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;

you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.

 

From the desk of Fr. Leo

     An author, Rabbi Harold Kushner writes in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People: “Life is not fair. The wrong people get sick and the wrong people get robbed and the wrong people get killed in wars and in accidents.” He tells us some people see unfairness and conclude there is no God. Rabbi Kushner argues that the sense of unfairness, the sense of anger and indignation and injustice and sympathy that we feel when these things happen, are in themselves the surest proof of God's reality, for these feelings are planted in our hearts by a God who recognizes unfairness and injustice, who feels anger and indignation and sympathy. But our God is also a patient God who is not ready to come and destroy His creation for every sin and evil He sees, rather, He is ready to come down to call us to holiness and to save us. If God zapped a person every time someone stepped out of line, how many of us would be left? What I am saying is just one attempt among many to understand evil in the world and in our lives. This weekend's parable of the wheat and the weeds also attempts to find an answer to this mystery.

     We don't need to be told there are weeds in God's kingdom. We all know that. The church and its leaders are not always perfect. Fr. Andrew Greely once said “if you ever find a perfect church, by all means join it; just know that once you join it, it will no longer be perfect.” Imperfection is all around us, in our nation and other nations, in our friends and members of our families. The important lesson in this weekend's parable is that the end, all things will be made right. The wheat, the good, will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father and those who do evil, the weeds, will endure the flames of a fiery furnace. The parable tells us, God is the one who is going to make that judgment, but believe that before we stand before God, we will probably have judged ourselves when we look at how we lived. I believe that God will be more merciful on us than we are on ourselves.

     The word for weeds it this weekend's gospel in Greek is described as a specific weed that looks like wheat when it begins to grow, but of course it is only a weed. Sometimes that's the way evil inserts itself into our world. It has the appearance of something good, but it is no good. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it is good for us.

     Evil will always remain a mystery, and we'll always be struggling against it and struggling to understand it. Don't let its appearance as something good fool us, remember that there will be a day of reckoning, there is an invisible force for evil in the world, and God's kingdom will prevail and overcome all evil in the end. Let's live and pray that we are all on the winning side.

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Meditation: What can malicious weed-sowing tell us about the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:25)? The image Jesus uses in this parable is a common everyday example of planting, harvesting, and sorting the good fruit from the bad. Weeds can spoil and even kill a good harvest if they are not separated and destroyed at the proper time. Uprooting them too early, though, can destroy the good plants in the process.

Letting God's word take deep root in the heart

Just as nature teaches us patience, so God's patience also teaches us to guard the seed of his word which he has planted in our hearts and to beware of the destructive force of sin and evil that can destroy it. God's word brings life, but Satan seeks to destroy the good seed which has been planted in the hearts of those who have heard God's word. God's judgment is not hasty, but it does come. And in the end, God will reward each according to what they have sown and reaped in this life. In that day God will separate the evil from the good. Do you allow God's word to take deep root in your heart?

Growth and transformation from within

What can mustard seeds and leaven teach us about the kingdom of God? The tiny mustard seed literally grew to be a tree which attracted numerous birds because they loved the little black mustard seed it produced. God's kingdom works in a similar fashion. It starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are receptive to God's word. And it works unseen and causes a transformation from within.

The Holy Spirit transforms us

Leaven is another powerful agent of change. A lump of dough left to itself remains just what it is, a lump of dough. But when the leaven is added to it a transformation takes place which produces rich and wholesome bread when heated - the staple of life for humans. The kingdom of God produces a transformation in those who receive the new life which Jesus Christ offers. When we yield to Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul the Apostle says, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

Good and evil are sown in our hearts like tiny seeds which germinate, and in due time yield a harvest of good or bad fruit. Charles Read said: "Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny." In the day of judgment each will reap what he or she has sown in this life. Those who sow good will shine in the kingdom of their Father. They will radiate with the beauty, joy, and fullness of God's love. Do you allow the love of Christ to rule in your heart and in your actions?

Lord Jesus, let your word take root in my heart and may your all-consuming love transform my life that I may sow what is good, worthy, and pleasing to you.

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