Let there be WHEAT on Earth!

On Teens Encounter Christ retreats "wheat" is a term that is used to describe tangible experiences of God's grace. "Wheat" can be a note of encouragement or gratitude, an unexpected gesture of kindness (smile, hug, pat on the back), a deed of helpfulness, or much more. On these retreats there is a support team that fixes meals, sets up the chapel, makes sure there is enough toilet paper in the rest rooms, and all of the other sundry chores that make sure the retreat runs smoothly. These indispensable people are called "Wheaties". These folks normally spend the whole three or four days of retreat in silence, offering their service as a silent prayer for the purpose of God doing His will for the retreatants and team of talk givers and chaplains. God bless the "Wheaties"!

Last week Jesus told the parable of the sower who cast wheat into the field haphazardly, but eventually yielding a 30, 60, or 100 fold crop. Though he doesn't seem to really care where the seeds land the abundant yield more than makes up for His "carelessness". This week Jesus (and St. Matthew) give us the parables of the wheat and weeds, the good (?) mustard seed, and the the pinch of yeast that makes 100 pounds of flour rise. The emphasis of the Catholic Church this weekend is the first parable of the the weeds that is sown with the wheat, since it is the only parable that is in both of the liturgical options of long or short forms.

Points to remember about parables as Jesus used them are that they are all about the immensity of the power of God and the Kingdom of God, AND that there is always a surprise.

For us 21st century mostly modern and citified folks we may not get the "surprise" without a little nudging. But if you grow vegetables, flowers, tobacco or huge fields of soy beans weeds are always a bane. (I'm also discovering that the squirrels of Eastern Parkway are also the bane of tomato growers in Louisville!!!) Pesticides and pest resistant plants have "helped" modern agribusinesses, but most of us "gardeners"  still have to hoe, pull or experiences a weedy, ugly, and less productive garden. The common practice then and now is to kill the weeds before they get a good start. In the tobacco fields that used to mean hoeing the patch regularly until the tobacco was at least head high and therefore less susceptible to the strangling effects of Johnson grass, thistles or vines. Hoeing is a pain in the back but necessary work for gardeners and farmers, but more so then than now. Hoeing is easier when the ground is soft or wet but more necessary when the ground is harder. If you hoe before a predicted rain you get to help your crop in two ways not just one. Hoeing before a rain helps eradicate weeds then but it also makes the soil more open to absorb the rain and water the roots of the crop that you are hoping becomes productive.

So, the surprise to me in this parable that the land owner tells his tillers that He wants them to let the weeds and the wheat to grow together until they are both mature. Any normal farmer or farm worker would be able to identify pretty positively what is a weed and what is wheat from the first sprig of green shooting out of the soil. Get rid of the weeds early and your crop has a better chance of receiving moisture and has less competition winning the battle of plant supremacy. Letting weeds grow as big as your wheat means that you won't have a wheat crop. Yet the land owner is the boss. His decision is THE decision. Most folks in the crowd in Jesus' day would have probably said, "This preacher doesn't know squat about farming."

Yet Jesus' point is about God not farming. God decides what is wheat and what is weeds when the time for harvest has come. The hired hands, tenants, and farm workers are asked to forget what they think they know about what (or who) is a weed and what is a stalk of wheat. Let the farm owner decide. Then He will harvest all to where each belong.

It is very hard for us not to judge others with our personal measuring sticks. We think we know who is good and who is bad, who is weed and who is wheat (and what they deserve). Yet over and over again Jesus tells us to let God decide and to try to be as forgiving and generous as God. The only opinion that matters in the end is God's.

We are all sometimes weeds growing in the wheat and sometimes wheat growing among the weeds. Thanks to the loving and generous mercy of God we are metamorphosed from our "weedy" actions, words, and attitudes into the abundant and fruitful "wheat" that God needs us to be. If God can show such mercy and benevolence to us while we are "weeds", He can surely change the most "weedy" of humans into the divine image in which all are made.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck