By Deacon Norbert Gaudet, RC Church Raymore
August 8, 2023
Our harvest is affected by weeds, plants that are not valued where they are growing and are usually of rank growth, one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants (Webster's Dictionary). What are we to do with weeds?
One year I planted carrots in the area of the garden where we leave the dill to go to seed every year. The dill became the weed. Some plants are difficult to weed out without damaging the desirable plant. Have you ever tried to weed out dill from a carrot row? As small plants, they practically look the same. They have a slight difference in colour but not much. The more I tried to weed out the dill, the more carrots I uprooted. I had to stop and be patient and wait. In my case, I was valuing the carrot plant more than the dill, which was choking out my carrots. Not all we see as weeds are weeds.
Jesus spoke in parables in teaching the people. I found that the parable of the weeds in the field (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) spoke to my dilemma with weeds. The parable goes like this. Someone sowed good seed (wheat, a desirable plant) in the field. An enemy came and sowed weeds (darnel, a poisonous plant which looks like wheat) among the wheat. This was a real scenario in Jesus' time. People sabotaged each other's crops. There were even Roman laws that specifically forbade the sabotaging of crops. The slaves asked if they should pull out the weeds, and the master replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds, you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest”. When the disciples asked for an explanation, Jesus answered: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds of the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are Angels .... they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers...”.
The parable points out that the weeds of sinfulness and the wheat of sanctity coexist in each of us until the end of time. At harvest time, at the end of the age, all causes of sin and evil with be collected and throw out and burnt. This answers my question about weeds in the field and what to do. I am called to be patient with myself and all around me. It teaches me not to judge prematurely and harm the wheat by removing the weeds. Instead, I should trust God as the ultimate judge and focus on planting and watering and not so much on weeding. We need to be sowers. Sowers of peace, love, joy, compassion, forgiveness and leave when and how it will grow up to God.
