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Jesus 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
household 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."'"
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Luke Skywalker wanted to change his father,
Darth
Vader. During the
movie “Return of the
Jedi,” he becomes completely convinced that Vader is indeed
his father and just
as convinced that there is good in him. As he explains during this
session, “There
is good in him” and Luke must
try to bring him back to it.
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There
is an interesting theory about the parable of the weeds that Jesus
tells. The wheat,
of course, symbolizes the good of
the world while the weeds are meant to portray the evil. The
theory is this: a
reason to allow both
the wheat and the weeds to grow together is that the good might influence the bad. In the theory, Jesus is
telling his followers
that they should always allow for the possibility of the good
influencing the
evil to change its ways.
We encounter evil in people all the time. From the powerful people who kill anyone who blocks their desires to the person who creates discord in a family by their speech, there is evil. Since everyone was created by God, everyone is good. At least, we begin that way. When Christians encounter people who are more evil than good, perhaps their calling is to influence them back to the good that is part of their innermost life. Most of all, Christians must recognize the evil in their own lives, and use the grace of God to change its hold on them. |
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THOUGHT
Why
does it seem that the more common happening is for the bad to
influence the good rather than the other way around?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, we know that the good can influence the evil, and
sometimes even bring the evil to a better way. As we study
ourselves and the evil in our own lives,
allow us to be
influenced by your Son so as to make us better people. Be with us,
we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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