Here is the text of the homily I prepared to help our brothers and sisters to reflect on God's word this week. The images of wheat planted in a field and weeds that grow alongside have much to teach us about faith in the midst of our daily lives.
Week after week, people are gathering in churches just like this one: they come to spend time in prayer; they come to hear the word of God; they come to see friends. Those of us who gather to celebrate the Eucharist also seek some inspiration so that we can go out into the world, renewed in some way by this experience, so that we can live our faith in the coming week, but have we ever noticed that sometimes the words we hear spoken in this place seem to vanish from our minds almost as quickly as we leave the building?
Jesus is no stranger to the challenges that face us. He knows us very well, and he wants to help us. In the gospel passage for today's Mass, we hear the parable of the wheat and the weeds (cf Mt 13: 24-30). Jesus used these images because he knew that many of the people in the crowd who were listening had questions of their own. Perhaps some of them knew the struggle of having children or other relatives who had chosen not to follow the practice of their faith with the same vigour that they themselves had come to know. Perhaps there were some who still had questions about all the rules that had been put in place by religious leaders. If you pull up the weeds, he said, you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest (Mt 13: 29-30).
This image shows us that we are very fortunate indeed. Our God has a merciful heart. There is room in God's heart for all of us. He wants us to live lives of faith. He wants us to believe in the promises that he has made to us: that we are his precious children (cf Wis 12: 19), that we have been promised the inheritance of eternal life and that the Spirit comes to us to help us in times of weakness (cf Rom 8: 26) so we are never alone as we make our way in this world.
All of us have our own share of worries, and we can always be confident as we bring these concerns to the Lord in prayer. At times we may not be able to see the ways in which our God is caring for us, or watching over our loved ones, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that he makes allowance for the fact that we have to face trials. At times it can even seem as though these trials will choke us, like the weeds that are left to grow with the wheat, but we are never alone. God knows the time when the weeds will be pulled up. God knows the time when the wheat will be harvested. All we need to do is begin each day with a simple prayer, asking to know the will of God for us and to have the strength and the power to do whatever he asks us to do that day. The rest, we leave in his hands.
Wheat and weeds
Week after week, people are gathering in churches just like this one: they come to spend time in prayer; they come to hear the word of God; they come to see friends. Those of us who gather to celebrate the Eucharist also seek some inspiration so that we can go out into the world, renewed in some way by this experience, so that we can live our faith in the coming week, but have we ever noticed that sometimes the words we hear spoken in this place seem to vanish from our minds almost as quickly as we leave the building?
Jesus is no stranger to the challenges that face us. He knows us very well, and he wants to help us. In the gospel passage for today's Mass, we hear the parable of the wheat and the weeds (cf Mt 13: 24-30). Jesus used these images because he knew that many of the people in the crowd who were listening had questions of their own. Perhaps some of them knew the struggle of having children or other relatives who had chosen not to follow the practice of their faith with the same vigour that they themselves had come to know. Perhaps there were some who still had questions about all the rules that had been put in place by religious leaders. If you pull up the weeds, he said, you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest (Mt 13: 29-30).
This image shows us that we are very fortunate indeed. Our God has a merciful heart. There is room in God's heart for all of us. He wants us to live lives of faith. He wants us to believe in the promises that he has made to us: that we are his precious children (cf Wis 12: 19), that we have been promised the inheritance of eternal life and that the Spirit comes to us to help us in times of weakness (cf Rom 8: 26) so we are never alone as we make our way in this world.
All of us have our own share of worries, and we can always be confident as we bring these concerns to the Lord in prayer. At times we may not be able to see the ways in which our God is caring for us, or watching over our loved ones, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that he makes allowance for the fact that we have to face trials. At times it can even seem as though these trials will choke us, like the weeds that are left to grow with the wheat, but we are never alone. God knows the time when the weeds will be pulled up. God knows the time when the wheat will be harvested. All we need to do is begin each day with a simple prayer, asking to know the will of God for us and to have the strength and the power to do whatever he asks us to do that day. The rest, we leave in his hands.
Le blé et des mauvaises herbes
De semaine en semaine, les gens se rassemblent dans des églises comme celle-ci: on vient prier; on vient écouter la parole de Dieu; on vient visiter des amis. Ceux d'entre nous qui se réunissent afin de célébrer l'Eucharistie cherchent également une inspiration pour que nous puissions sortir de cette place et aller dans le monde, renouvelés d'une certaine manière par cette expérience, afin que nous puissions vivre notre foi pendant la semaine à venir, mais avons-nous déjà remarqué que parfois les paroles que nous entendons ici semblent disparaître de notre esprit presque aussitôt que nous quittons le bâtiment?
Jésus n'est pas étranger aux défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés. Il nous connaît très bien et il veut nous aider. Dans le passage de l'Évangile proposé pour la messe d'aujourd'hui, nous entendons la parabole du blé et des mauvaises herbes (cf Mt 13, 24-30). Jésus a utilisé ces images parce qu'il savait que beaucoup de gens qui faisait parti de la foule avaient leurs propres questions. Peut-être que certains d'entre eux connaissaient la difficulté de vivre avec des enfants ou d'autres parents qui avaient choisi de ne pas suivre la pratique de leur foi avec la même vigueur qu'ils avaient eux-mêmes connue. Peut-être que certains se posaient encore des questions sur toutes les règles mises en place par les chefs religieux. Si vous arrachez les mauvaises herbes, dit-il, vous pourriez déraciner le blé avec eux. Laissez-les grandir ensemble jusqu'à la récolte (Mt 13: 29-30).
Cette image nous démontre le fait que nous sommes vraiment très chanceux. Notre Dieu a un cœur miséricordieux. Il y a de la place dans le cœur de Dieu pour nous tous. Il veut que nous vivions une vie de foi. Il veut que nous croyions aux promesses qu'il nous a faites: que nous sommes ses précieux enfants chéris (cf Sag 12, 19), qu'on nous a promis l'héritage de la vie éternelle et que l'Esprit vient à nous pour nous aider dans des temps de faiblesse (cf Rm 8, 26) donc nous ne sommes jamais seuls alors que nous avançons dans ce monde.
Nous avons tous notre propre part d'inquiétudes, et nous pouvons toujours être confiants lorsque nous apportons ces préoccupations au Seigneur dans la prière. Parfois, nous ne pouvons pas comprendre les façons dont notre Dieu prend soin de nous ou qu'il veille sur nos proches, mais nous pouvons être rassurés en sachant qu'il tient compte du fait que nous devons faire face à des épreuves. Parfois, il peut même sembler que ces épreuves nous étoufferont, comme les mauvaises herbes qui poussent avec le blé, mais nous ne sommes jamais seuls. Dieu connaît le moment où les mauvaises herbes seront arrachées. Dieu connaît le moment où le blé sera récolté. Tout ce que nous devons faire c'est de commencer chaque jour par une simple prière, demandant à connaître la volonté de Dieu pour nous et à avoir la force et le pouvoir de faire tout ce qu'il nous demande. Le reste, nous laissons entre ses mains.
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