A reading from the gospel of Matthew 13:24-30

24 Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
27 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?’
28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.
30 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.”

Reflection: Wheat and weeds

Good News: The wheat is harvested but the weeds are uprooted and burn.

Any farmer can easily relate to our reading today. In his farm, he plants good seeds but he also expects that in a short while, weeds will grow together with his plants.

There are wheat seeds and there are weeds. What happens to them is almost expected but is not a certainty. The good seeds can be crowded out by the weeds. If we don’t take care of the good seeds, they may grow and bear fruits but the fruits are not good enough for consumption or for sale. On the other hand, the unwanted weeds are not planted by the farmer. They just come from nowhere but their effect on the plant is great. They may even make the farmer go bankrupt.

Although the parable is about the Kingdom of God, we can apply it in our human world where some people can be the wheat and others the weeds. The “wheat” strives to grow and become successful. They become assets in their respective communities. One the other hand, the “weeds” try their best to stop the wheat from growing. Later, the wheat receive awards but the weeds populate our prisons.

In our individual lives, our thoughts, words, and actions may either be “wheat seeds” or “weeds”. The wheat seeds make us happy and the weeds make us sad. The former will help us become successful while the latter hinders us from reaching our potentials. In the end, the former will bring us to the Kingdom but if we have cultivated the weeds instead, we will be sent to eternal damnation.

Yet we don’t dwell on polarities. While we take extra precautions against the “weeds” in our midst, we strive to make the human world integrated with no biases nor prejudices. In the same matter, we pray and work hard so that we all become whole and loving individuals, accepting each other as part of the human family. No one should be left out of the Kingdom.