Embrace the Presence of God!

Anthony De Mello, S. J., in “TAKING FLIGHT” narrates a story: a woman dreamed one night that she walked into a brand new shop.  Much to her surprise, she found God working behind the counter.  She asked God, "What do you sell here?"  "Everything your heart desires," God replied.  It was incredible.  She was talking face to face with God.  "I want peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and freedom from fear," she told God.  Then almost as an afterthought, she added, "not just for me, but for everyone on earth."  God smiled, "I think you've got me wrong, my dear.  We don't sell fruits here.  Only seeds."

How is your garden doing? I think this year we have just enough rain, so we don’t have to do too much watering in the garden. Last weekend we heard the parable of the sower and seed, and this weekend, we hear the parables of wheat and weeds, mustard seed, and yeast in the wheat flour. The core of these parables is the Kingdom of God. Matthew is talking to a Jewish audience, so he is the phrase Kingdom of heaven instead of the Kingdom of God. Jesus believed that they are not worthy to call Yahweh. So they used different words to say about God. The kingdom of God means the presence of God.

First, Jesus tells them the parable of wheat and weeds. In Palestine, it was very common to see the wheat and tares growing together. It is very hard to distinguish one from the other. Jesus tells them in the parable, “Let them grow together until the harvest.”

There were people in Jesus’ time who wanted him to separate the bad from the good as well. Among them were people who claimed the good people, the Pharisees whose name means “the separated ones” and others were sinners. Like Pharisees and Scribes, we will be tempted to do the same.

St. Augustine says that the field, he explained, is, indeed, the world, but it is also the Church, the place in which saints and sinners live side-by-side, and in which there is room to grow and to be converted. "The evildoers," he said, "exist in this way either so that they will be converted, or because through them the good exercise patience."

Then Jesus talks about the two other parables. The first speaks of a mustard seed that is sown in a garden. What’s special about this mustard? That it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it grows, it becomes a bush bigger than the other vegetables. The second parable speaks of a woman who mixes a little yeast into a large mass of flour. Without anyone knowing how the yeast goes about working silently until the whole mass is fermented. In both cases, it is small beginnings but leads to great transformation.
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The Spirit of God is still working among us. It may have a small beginning, it promoting solidarity, love and joy-filled family, Church, Community, Nation and the World. But we need to allow the Spirit to work in us and grow. Our God is loving and merciful.