Scripture Study for
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 12:13, 16–19 / Psalm 86:5a / Romans 8:26–27 / Matthew 13:24–43 or 13:24–30
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Reflecting on the Word
By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger
It was early spring. The master gardener was really busy. A kind friend offered to weed her perennial garden while the weeds were still small. She was very grateful. He was an expert on tulips. He knew what tulip leaves looked like. So he diligently weeded that garden clean. When he was done, the tulip leaves proudly stood out from the bare soil that surrounded them. As spring unfolded in the garden, though, there were no forget-me-nots. The coreopsis was gone. There were no more buttercups. The tulips grew strong and died back. The next year, that same friend offered to help. “Let me do the weeding,” the master gardener said.
We really don’t know what we don’t know. Sometimes we assume that we know ourselves and others. The research, however, reveals that we create stories in our minds based on partial pieces of information. We do not have all the evidence on anything. If you and I had the job of weeding out the good and the bad in a group of people, we may see the acts that a person does and judge accordingly. But moral theologians tell us that moral blame is based on act, circumstance, and intention. We can and must judge acts as morally wrong or right, but we do not have enough information to pass further judgment on a person. Only God knows the circumstance and intentions behind an act.
Why doesn’t God ask us to do the weeding? Little leaves that come up in early spring do not look like the flowers they will be when they are mature. We would often pluck out the wrong things if it were up to us. We don’t know what we don’t know. Jesus offers today’s parable so that we will practice mercy, not judgment.
“Let me do the weeding,” the Master Gardener says.
Consider/Discuss
- The most beautiful flower in a garden may look like a dead stick in early spring. Think back to some of the ugly things you may have done in your life. How has God helped you to grow so that you mature and blossom?
- We tell stories about people in our minds. Have you ever had an “aha!” moment when you’ve said, “How could I have been so wrong about that person?”
Living and Praying with the Word
Good Gardener of us all, sometimes we look just like dead sticks or tiny weeds. But you have a vision of what we can become. Affirm our strengths. Challenge our weaknesses. Never let us stop growing. And today, assist us in revising our story about someone. Reveal to us where we are impatient or unmerciful or unkind or uncharitable, for we want to see others as you do.