In a brief word today we actually have an answer to the age-old question of why God allows evil in the world. If God is so good and loving then why are there all kinds of less than godly things going on in the world, going on in our country, going on in my family, going on in me?
Again, in brief: it all comes down to "respect." God respects the freedom – the ability to use reason and free-will - that is his precious gift to us – that makes us a lot like him! He would never misuse his freedom and free-will, but we (as descendants and relatives of Adam and Eve) – since the Day of the Fall in Paradise, have misused ours and are always on the brink of doing it again!
He gave us free-will so we could freely choose to love him for all his gifts to us and to prove that love by loving others around us as we love ourselves – as Jesus taught us to do!
And so, we have the wheat and the weeds; we have those who choose to be wheat and those who misuse their free-will and choose to be weeds. And rather than risking upsetting the good unnecessarily, God thought it best to let the wheat and the weeds grow together until harvest time – until the end of the world. He would protect with his powerful fatherly care (as we heard in the first reading today) those who are trying to be good grains of wheat; he would send Spirit to help us in our weakness, help us especially to pray as we ought to pray: that the Father's will be done in all things; and the weeds as he assures us in the gospel passage will get what is coming to them at that time and they will be gathered for burning!
What is so wonderful is that until our last breath: a weed can always change his / her mind and become a grain of wheat; as the first reading tells us: God's children always have good ground for HOPE because repentance and forgiveness of sins is possible!
We pray that any of us, all of us, who have any sort of weeds whatever growing in or around us – might take advantage of the graces and movement of the Holy Spirit and pray for their removal NOW, before it is too late! – and they will be removed, and we will become purified!
You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity. Turn toward us, [show your tender powerfulness] and have pity on us; give your strength to us, your servants.
Lord, you are good and forgiving!
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