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16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43（玛13：24-43）

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;  then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'" He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation (of the world)." Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world,  the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,  and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily： THE IMPATIENT MAN AND THE CALM GOD

Through three parables Jesus gradually reveals the mystery of the kingdom of heaven and explains the enigma of the existence of evil.

In the parable of the seed and weed, the owner represents God. He is the one who sows, the one responsible of the quality of the seed. The seeds are defined as “good”. Creation is good as the seed of the word announced by Jesus is good.

 The enemy in the parable represents the logic of this world. He comes at night and, while everyone is asleep, sows tares. Tares are a kind of weed very similar to grain. It grows to a height of 60 cm and produces an ear containing blackish grains; its roots are intertwined with those of the wheat and are impossible to eradicate without tearing that too. It is when the minds are numbed from sleep, when vigilance is loosened, when one abandons oneself to dissipation and frivolity that the enemy finds a way to hack into the field to sow evil.

The servants represent us. Their reaction—a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment in finding the presence of the darnel—is what we experience when we realize the existence of evil in the world, in the Christian community, in every person. The exciting dialogue shows the interest of the servants in the field and their commitment to the harvest.

But, their passion for the cause of good involves them to the point of proposing a reckless action. They are taken by impatience, anxiety of immediately getting rid of the darnel. They have no hesitation; they want an immediate and strong intervention.

The owner does not lose control; he keeps calm. He is not surprised of the incident. He is not moved and does not share their restlessness. The perspective of God is represented in his answer. In this world, good and evil are not separated. They are destined to grow together until the end. 

It is good to reflect that the evil cannot be easily extricated because they are within us. Good and evil are found in every person although we would like to lull ourselves in the illusion of being perfect. No one is perfect. So Jesus urges us to consider it with the calm and patient eyes of God.

 The twin parables that follow contain the same message: the disproportion between the small beginning and the unexpected, amazing final result. A grain of mustard seed, almost invisible, gives rise to a shrub that can reach four feet in height; a few grams of yeast makes fifty pounds of flour rise. The contrast is enormous.

The Church, which began with a group of unskilled fishermen and impure, sinful people, grows into a solace and refuge for millions in the world is the miracle of the Lord. Neither the yeast nor the seed knew what they were capable of!

The evangelist concludes the three parables with a reflection on the goal, which Jesus wanted to achieve: to unveil God’s project for the world since the moment of creation. First, the master invited servants to accept with serenity the existence of evil next to the good. Then he scolded the servants’ intolerance.

证道：学习天主镇静看善恶，耐心宽容对待有罪之人！

通过这三个比喻，耶稣逐步地启示天国的奥秘，并解释邪恶存在的谜团。

在好种子和杂草莠子的比喻中，主人代表天主。他是播种的那位，也是对种子的质量负责的那位。种子被定义为“好”。受造物是好的，并且作为耶稣宣告的话语种子，也是好的。

比喻中的仇人代表的是这个世界的逻辑。它深夜而来，正是在每个人睡觉时撒下莠子。莠子是一种与谷物很像的杂草。它能长到60厘米高，并结出包含黑色谷粒的穗子；它的根与小麦的根缠绕在一起，如果不把小麦也扯断，就不可能根绝它。当人的思想在睡觉中麻木时，当人放松警惕时，当人沉溺于放荡和轻浮时，仇人就找到了侵入田地中播种邪恶的方法。

比喻中的仆人代表我们。他们在发现莠子时夹杂着震惊和困惑的反应，也是我们在这个世界上、在基督徒团体中，以及每个人身上意识到邪恶存在时的经验。激动的对话显示出仆人对田地的用心，以及对收获的献身决心。

不过，他们对好种子的热情，让他们陷于了鲁莽行动的境地。他们不耐烦了，渴望立即摆脱莠子，毫不犹豫地想要一种直接和强硬的干预。

主人并未失控，仍旧保持镇静。他对这事故并不感到惊讶，没有被感动，也没有分担他们的不安。天主的视角体现在祂的回答中。在这世界上，善与恶是无法分割的。它们注定要一起成长，直到世界的终结。

反省到邪恶不能被轻易摆脱是很好的，因为它们就在我们中间。尽管我们都喜欢在成为完美的幻想中安抚自己，但是在每个人身上都能发现善与恶。没有谁是完美的。因此，耶稣敦促我们以天主眼光的镇静和耐心来对待它。

后面两个相似的比喻都包含了相同的讯息：就是在开始的微小与最终结果的惊奇和意外之间的不相称。一粒芥菜籽，几乎是看不见的，却能够成长为树，最多长到四英尺高；几克酵母就能使五十磅面粉发酵起来。这些对比是巨大的。

圣教会也是从技术一般的渔民、不洁的人和罪人的小团体开始，成长为世界上亿万人的安慰和庇护所，实在是上主的奇迹。不是酵母，也不是好种子明了它们有能力做什么！

圣史以耶稣想要达到的目标来反省这三个比喻：向世界揭示天主从创世以来的计划。首先，主人邀请仆人平静地接纳善恶为邻的生活方式。然后，耶稣批评了仆人的不宽容。