Texts taken from the July-August 2023 issue of “Sulla Tua Parola”

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
4th week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of Wisdom (Wis 12:13,16-19)
There is no god besides you who cares for all things, so that you should have to prove that you have not judged unjustly. For your strength is the source of justice, and your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all. You show your strength when people doubt the completeness of your power, and you rebuke the insolence of those who know it. Though you are master of strength, you judge with mildness and govern us with great leniency, for you have power to act whenever you choose. By acting in this way, you have taught your people that the righteous must love others, and you have given your children good hope that after sin you grant repentance. - The word of God.

Commentary on the First Reading

Israel is a people unique in the world; it is aware that it was shaped by God to fulfill a particular and special mission toward all other peoples. The Israelites continually relate to God, for better or for worse, in obedience and disobedience. In ancient Israel, atheism does not exist; everyone is educated from childhood in faith in the one God, and no one doubts him. They know that he created the world and chose a small people to prepare something great that was to come, but divine education does not stop there; the people must prepare themselves by learning mutual love: “You have taught your people that the righteous must love others.” Therefore, Israel must not invoke God's special presence to conquer and dominate the world, but to give flesh and blood to God himself, Jesus, who must restore the order of things after Adam's sin: “You have given the children good hope: you grant repentance.” Every special mission received from God is founded on love and forgiveness; otherwise, it does not come from him.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 8:26-27)
Brothers and sisters, the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings; and he who searches hearts knows what the Spirit desires, because he intercedes for the saints according to God's designs. - The word of God.

Commentary on the Second Reading

When Saint Paul speaks about prayer, he tells us that we do not know how to pray well, or, more precisely, that “we do not know how to pray as we ought.” And yet we are told that Christian life finds its highest expression, indeed its necessity, in prayer. In the Gospel, Jesus himself showed us several times that we must pray persistently, and he also taught us the prayer of the Our Father. Why, then, does Paul say that we do not know how to pray? In reality, he tells us that after receiving the Holy Spirit, we carry within us someone who already prays on his own. The Holy Spirit is the relationship of love between the Father and the Son, and in us he is, so to speak, the voice of the Son crying out: “Abba!” This cry is not confined to the heights of heaven, but resounds from the depths of our heart. When we enter into ourselves, gather ourselves, and place ourselves in the silence of adoration, little by little our soul tunes in to the Holy Spirit within us (if we are in a state of grace), and so we begin to pray with inexpressible groanings. This is the prayer of the heart.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 13:24-43)
At that time, Jesus presented the crowd with another parable, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the stalk grew and produced fruit, the weeds appeared as well. Then the servants went to the master of the house and said to him: ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ And he answered them: ‘An enemy has done this!’ And the servants said to him: ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘lest in gathering the weeds you uproot the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will say to the reapers: First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” He presented them with another parable, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but once it has grown, it is larger than the other garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and make nests among its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it was all leavened.” Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables, and he spoke nothing to them except in parables, so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will proclaim things hidden since the foundation of the world.” Then he dismissed the crowds and went into the house; his disciples approached him and said: “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” And he answered: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all who commit iniquity and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let him hear!” - The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the Gospel of the Day

Earthly life determines our final and eternal position. We are created to live forever in God, but we must choose it; that is to say, just as no one ends up in Hell by chance, neither is anyone saved by chance. The final sentence of the parable of the wheat and the weeds is clear: after the end of the world, there will be the kingdom of the Father on one side and the fiery furnace of the weeds (iniquity and causes of sin) on the other. In this life we have everything we need to live as good wheat, even while being in close contact with the weeds. However, we can also go astray and become weeds, because until our last breath we are free to choose whose we want to be. The weeds are not removed immediately because they may become wheat before the final harvest, but it is also true that proximity to people who practice iniquity allows the good to exercise charity, patience, and forbearance, all things that strengthen spiritual life. Besides, did Jesus himself, during his earthly life, not always live among many weeds? Therefore, our duty is to do everything possible so that every person close to us who causes scandal or practices iniquity lays down their weapons and crosses over to the side of the kingdom of the Father.