16th Sunday of Year A-2017

May the Spirit of the good, loving and patient God always explain to you the real and interior meaning of his word so as to enable you remain the wheat of his field and enter into his barn at the end of your life. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye 

   DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Wisdom 12,13, 16-19; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43: 16th Sunday of Year A-2017)

            There is often the tendency to think of God as a human being. Insofar as God can only be comprehended in the light of human reasoning, one should be able to understand that God is not human and cannot be expected to act as humans do. Contrary to normal expectation, he is patient and forbearing with everybody. He gives every person ample opportunity for a change of heart. The book of Wisdom, the passage of the first reading of today, presents such characteristics of God. The principal theme of the first verse of this passage is an acknowledgement of the total and exclusive providence of God. Only the God of Israel exercises care and he does so over all. God’s might is the second characteristic discussed in this passage. Divine justice springs from this might; justice requires that righteousness be rewarded and wickedness punished. In spite of God’s infinite power, and precisely because of it, he is mild in judgment and lenient in his actions. In fact, his sovereignty over all things makes him more caring and lenient in his dealings with his creatures. The reading went on to say that God acts thus, not only due to his own nature, but also to teach mortal mankind to be tolerant to one another and less judgmental in their dealings with one another. The reading exhorts people to pattern their treatment of others after God’s treatment of them, to temper their own might with leniency, to regulate their own justice with kindness. God’s kindness in the past gives them reason to hope for mercy in the future. Thus, they are expected to act in the same manner toward others.  
            The psalm of today’s liturgy, Psalm 86, continues the excellent perception of God. God is described as abounding in loving-kindness (hesed), the kind of steadfast love associated with the covenant. The psalmist calls God good and forgiving, most likely because of the way the psalmist has experienced God in the past.  God is recognized as Creator of all and, for this reason receives the homage of all the nations. The psalmist further describes God with the same confessional faith as is found in the account of Moses’s encounter of God at Sinai: compassionate (rahim) and gracious (hannun), slow to anger and filled with kindness (hesed).            Today’s gospel reading presents us three parables about the kingdom of heaven. Those of the mustard seed and the yeast address the unimpressive beginnings of the kingdom of heaven, its gradual and imperceptible growth and the extraordinary yield it will ultimately produce. In the parable on the wheat and the darnel Jesus teaches us the infinite mercy of God and his open-heartedness towards all sinners. In line with the usual human tendency, the servants wanted the master to, immediately, order the darnels be rooted out in order to allow the wheat grow without hindrance. But the master thinks otherwise. The darnel should be given a fair chance for them to prove that they are actually darnels. Moreover, the wheat should also be able to prove their worthiness to enter the master’s barn by their ability to remain untainted, even in midst of the darnels.

    In both the first and gospel readings, especially, the parable of the wheat and the darnel we are meant to understand that the good, merciful and loving God (first reading and the Psalm)  is ever ready to give a chance for repentance, even to the most hardened of sinners. He continues to call us all to turn away from evil deeds. He also expects that we cooperate with him in such opportunities for repentance. Let the sinner see whatever opportunity he has and the good things he enjoys, in spite of himself, as avenues God opens for him to turn away from sin. The virtuous should also not look down on any person, but should rather strive to help the sinner turn back to God. Turning back to God may not be so easy for us mortals or flesh and blood. We, therefore, need the power of the Spirit of God who will not only pray with us and present our prayer to God but will also show us how to relate with the good, loving and merciful God. Jesus explained the parables of the kingdom to his disciples; we have the Spirit to enlighten us about them. It is the Spirit that will help us interpret Jesus’ teachings and will help us be receptive/open to challenges they pose. May we, therefore, pray in today’s Eucharistic liturgy for this Spirit of God. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye.