Today at Mass we hear the parable of the wheat and the tares from Matthew’s Gospel. This simple story reminds us of Genesis when the world was perfect. God had planted everything and all was good. Then came along the serpent to plant seeds of doubt and pride. This brought us into the state of the world we have today in which both of those things are at an abundance. So what does that story have to do with us today? As a friend of mine likes to challenge, “So what? What does that matter to me?” What does a story about the beginning of time, that many believe to be a simple analogy or myth, have to do with our lives today?
Sometimes we forget that in a way our hearts are Eden. We have a garden inside of us that needs to be watered and tilled, made ready for the fruit that should radiate from it. Too often Christians today think the freedom we have in Christ means freedom to do whatever it is we want. Saint Pope John Paul the II once said: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” When we do what we ought then good fruit is coming forth from our garden. It is then that we can walk in the coolness of the day with God in our midst. That isn’t to say God is some tyrant in Heaven stamping about waiting for you to make a mistake. What it says is that we should be actively trying to become better, to live up to who we were created to be.
Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought. – Saint Pope John Paul the II
How though do we figure out what is right? What we ought to do? So many voices out there claiming to have the correct way, and often times they are different than our own sensibilities. We look to the divine revelation given to us in the person of Jesus Christ. It is through Him and the Chruch He established, that we received the scriptures. So we look to those as lights in the world to attempt to figure out how to live as we ought, not necessarily as we want. Satan will plant those seeds of self-doubt and loathing, those prideful thoughts that make you want to be your own god. All too often that is the crux of things. We want to decide for ourselves what is right, and no one else will tell us. If it were that simple, all of us inspired by the Holy Spirit would come to the exact same conclusions about Scripture and morality. Rather we have 40,000+ denominations all claiming to have the one truth.
What are we seeking then? For me, it comes down to those golden moments. I have no other way to describe it. Sometimes in prayer, I become lost in it. I am enraptured, in this golden light that seems to block out the world entirely. For just a moment everything ceases to exist and I forget where I am, what I am doing… all that seems to matter is God. Some other denominations I guess would call this falling out in the spirit, but for me, I like to think of it as “glimpses of Eden.” Those simple moments when I get a tiny glimpse of what Heaven will be like. I was a commentator today at Mass and one of those moments happened. Just after communion I just felt the love of God so immensely that I just rested in it. Then the silence of everyone looking at me (reminding me of the time I fell asleep in Algebra class in high school) jarred me back to the present moment. It was slightly embarrassing in a way, but you know what? I’ll take any sort of ignominy to gain a few more moments of that.
So today look for that. Seek Jesus in your heart. Realize you can be wheat or a tare. Try to grow a garden that lets you have Eden right here, right now. Because there is a difference between false wheat and real wheat. They look the same, they smell the same, they feel the same… but when it comes time for the harvest, wheat gets heavy and bows down. The tare stands tall and can easily be plucked and thrown into the fire.
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, July 19th, 2020: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time