In today’s gospel reading, we read the following from the gospel of Matthew. – “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So, the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
In this parable, found in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus paints a vivid picture of a field in which both wheat and tares, or weeds, are growing together. As the workers notice the presence of the tare, they inquire of the landowner whether they should gather them up. The landowner wisely responds, instructing them to allow the wheat and tares to grow together until the harvest when the separation will occur.
First and foremost, we should understand what some words mean:
The man sowing the seed is Jesus.
The field is the world.
The good seeds are the good things that God created.
The tares are the bad things that come into our life through evil.
The enemy is Satan himself.
The harvest is the end of the world.
The parable highlights the coexistence of good and evil in our lives and society. Just as the wheat and tares grow side by side in the field, we encounter both righteousness and wickedness in the world. We see acts of love and kindness, but we also witness hatred and injustice. It is a constant reminder that we live in a fallen world, affected by sin and that evil influences persist even among the righteous.
As from the other parables, from this parable too, we learn so many lessons for our lives. But I want to talk about two of them.
1. Be patient
The parable teaches us about the importance of patience and discernment. The workers in the story were quick to suggest removing the tares, but the landowner urged them to wait until the harvest. Similarly in our lives, we may be tempted to judge and separate ourselves from those whom we perceive as “weeds”. But God calls us to exercise patience and discernment, recognizing that it is not our role to make final judgments. Instead, we are called to focus on cultivating our own faith, nurturing the wheat within us, and allowing God’s wisdom to prevail. It’s easy to destroy whatever is already built, everyone can do that. Nowadays we need the kind of people that love to build and love to keep what he has. We need the kind of person who wants to fix the problems without harming other people. And again, let’s ask ourselves are we the wheat or the tares? If we are wheat, then we have to keep working hard. But if we are the tares, then we have some time to work on ourselves before the harvest time arrives.
Whenever you start to get angry with someone before taking any steps, take a moment to think about your actions. And try to be like God. In the gospel of Matthew, we read the following. - “Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (5.48). So, let’s spend more time becoming perfect.
2. Try to be a wheat Sower
As you see in our daily life there are too many tares, Sower, so much negativity and hatred. And we all need a positive environment, love, and kindness that be in our families, friendship, or community. It’s true sometimes their bad actions harm us, they disturb our peace, but as Paul the apostle says in his letter to the Romans. – “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12.21). Focus on good things, focus on your faith, and pray for them. Try to obey what our Lord Jesus said. – “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5.44-45).
As conclusion, try to be perfect as our Father in Heaven and pray for those who try to sow a tares on your life, believing that our Father will help us and protect us from evil forever and ever. Amen.