A Reflection for the Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s readings can be found here.
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.”’
The past few days I have felt like a dutiful Sunday school student again, trying and trying to extrapolate lessons from today’s Gospel’s parable of the weeds.
I have considered that there is a lesson about patience in the parable. The householder and his slaves must wait until harvest to see things clearly. There is a lesson about trusting in the work one has completed faithfully. The householder trusted the fortitude of the seeds he sowed. There is also a prayerful awareness of good timing. The householder knows—and shares this knowledge—that the harvest is when the weeds reveal themselves as different from the grain.
As a 24-year-old, these are holy ideals and wise practices that I do not have the best grasp of just yet.
I have been searching for a relevant experience of patience in my life, praying and waiting for some memory to come back to me for this scripture reflection. Now, I think the fact that I do not have a story about the fruit of such patience is exactly my key to reading this Gospel. I should not be listening to the householder’s final instructions for collecting wheat and burning tares because I am simply not there yet. I should be listening to what the householder said first: “Let them grow together until harvest.”
I imagine we are all waiting for harvests of our own. I know that underneath and between the cracks of all the lifegiving experiences I have the privilege of savoring—academic and professional milestones, first apartments, friendships old and new—I am changing plenty. My heart is learning things, and I cannot always tell in which directions it moves. But I can watch and wait carefully in my prayer.
Let us grow together until harvest.
