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Among the Weeds

21/7/2023

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew
13.24-33

Jesus put before the crowds a parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.

“So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Why won’t God just wipe out all evil and suffering in the world? The parables from this reading offer us an answer.

First, there’s a farmer who plants grain in his field. As the grain begins to sprout, so too do weeds, planted by the enemy. The farmhands offer to remove the weeds, but the farmer refuses, citing the risk to the grain. But that’s not how farming works. If you’ve ever had a run-in with mint in your garden, you know that even this most fragrant plant can quickly choke out every other seed at the root. In that view, the farmer not weeding his field seems odd. It’s common sense to anyone who’s done even hobby farming that weeds must be removed so they don’t choke out the intended crop.

Why is Jesus giving such bad farming advice? Some would read that the good and bad seeds refer to individual people. Some are naturally good. Some are naturally bad. God doesn’t need to weed because the good souls would grow as intended regardless of the actions of the bad souls, but that aggressive weeding might harm some of them.

The parable of the yeast shows more clearly the heart of the Father. Yeast is mixed into flour and grows over time. Flour is just dust until it’s mixed with yeast and water. Only then can it become bread. Just as the farmer plants the seed in the dirt and adds water so it can sprout, so the baker plants the yeast in the flour and adds water so it can leaven. If the field has too many weeds, the good seed can be choked out. If the flour has too much salt, it can keep the yeast from expanding.

And so does the Father plant good in us and add the water of Baptism so we can grow into images of Christ. Because of the Fall, we are like a field with weeds, or flour with too much salt. The weed planted in us by the evil one is our ability to sin. To entirely pluck out our ability to sin also risks plucking out our free will, annihilating the good being done in us by the good seed. We are not indestructible seeds, but rather complex beings, created with the ability to accept love and give love, not out of some compulsion or programming, but rather out of our free will. For the Father to pluck out our ability to sin, He would also have to pluck out our ability to choose love. That free will is the salt that gives flavour and richness to our growing love. By surrendering our entire selves to God, even the salty, weedy bits, we can grow into something beautiful.

Stéphanie Potter

2 Comments

Breath and Prayer

20/7/2023

9 Comments

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Romans
8.26-27

Brothers and sisters: The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Am I doing it right? It’s true, what Paul says – I don’t know how to pray as I ought. Sometimes I don’t even know how to breathe as I ought. For a recovering perfectionist, these things are hard to admit, especially since my perception is that both of these things should be as natural as trees breaking into blossom in the springtime.

Breath and prayer, prayer and breath.

Breath and prayer.

Prayer and breath.

They’re both gifts from God.

God gave me my first breath, and He knows when I will take my last. He even regulates my breathing while I live in Him. But I know that to fully live in Him, I must pray. Prayer, in this sense, is a discipline, an act of the will. But there are times when I don’t have the will to pray. Thankfully, sometimes prayer is also received – as a grace. In these moments, when I am not being intentional about spending time with God, this prayer is a gift – a gift from His interceding Spirit.

Breath is also a gift and a discipline. The breath God gives is not simply offered so that I can regulate my ventilating system or control my central nervous system functions. Emotions and experiences can derail the rhythm of this breath. It adjusts in response to “various circadian, cognitive, and emotional brain states, and at the same time itself plays a major role in centrally affecting emotions, arousal, and other brain states.” (The Integrative Role of the Sigh in Psychology, Physiology, Pathology, and Neurobiology)

Sigh.

No. God gives me breath with “sighs too deep for words.” And maybe this is the way I ought to respond to Him: when I don’t know what to pray, I can sigh.

This reading, from God’s lips to my heart, has left me pondering whether breath and prayer are very natural to me at all. In this very moment, I find myself forcing sighs to ensure breathing is still happening. Have you ever noticed yourself holding your breath? It’s often accompanied by shoulders growing out of our ears. This is where I find myself. And so I sigh.

We can choose a sigh, or it can be given, just as breath and prayer. Involuntary sighs can result from not-so-happy emotions, such as boredom or frustration, but an intentional sigh can actually reduce stress, induce positive emotions, and make us feel a bit better (The Positive Power of a Good Sigh).

When the Spirit sighs in intercession, He intentionally bestows grace on me. I receive it involuntarily at times when I didn’t try to breathe, nor did I try to pray, yet His grace is ever present in my life as He intentionally breathes for me, leaving me with a sense of uncommon peace. He prays for me, guiding my footsteps in this life. In this way, God offers me a most complete co-regulation strategy. I can know, even when my body and spirit feel disregulated, that the Spirit intercedes, knows my heart, and draws a long, deep sigh of respite on my behalf.

Breathe in: Jesus, fill me with Your grace.
Breathe out: I leave everything in Your hands.

Lori MacDonald

9 Comments

God Alone

19/7/2023

1 Comment

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 86

R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.

You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication.

R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.

All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give your strength to your servant.

R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

King David interests me. He is a close associate of the extraordinary and the magnificent.

The most breathtaking artwork I have ever seen is Michelangelo’s David. I recall walking into the room specially built for it in the Galleria dell’Accademia and being struck by its presence, towering above the tourists. David’s youth. The intensity of his gaze. The looseness with which he held the deadly stone behind the curl of his fingers. Powerful for a simple shepherd, and a boy at that.

Shepherding is not an easy job, of course. It never has been. Adult sheep weigh between 200 and 300-plus pounds. One has to tip them on their rumps to trim their hooves and shear them. One has to stand between them and their predators — lions, wolves, bears and the like. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised that David, boyish confidence notwithstanding, was ready to take on Goliath.

Later in his life, in addition to about half of the psalms included in the Bible, David wrote Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” a famously beautiful and consolatory poem -- David, the former shepherd, writing about being shepherded by the Chief Shepherd.

These two great pieces of art joined me in my reflection on the psalm for this week, which is also written by David. Psalm 86 celebrates God as extraordinary, singular. David says, God alone has the strength to help me. God alone loves me steadfastly. God alone offers me true comfort. God alone can forgive my failings as a man and a king.

I am touched by David‘s humility before God. The biblical account of David’s bold actions does not paint the picture of a man who tends toward modesty but rather a man of aggression. David seizes opportunities. David is ambitious. David plots to take what he desires — sometimes to his detriment.

And yet, for all of his ambition, David knows he is not the god of his own life. David knows that there is a strength and love and comfort outside himself that, in a breath, could blow down all and anything that he is.

David bows to the Lord.

For all his faults, David has taught me a valuable lesson. God alone has the strength to help me. God alone loves me steadfastly. God alone offers me true comfort. God alone can forgive my failings as a woman and a daughter of the King.

Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Donna Davis

1 Comment

Nothing to Prove

18/7/2023

3 Comments

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom
12.13, 16-19

There is no god besides you, Lord,
whose care is for all people,
to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly.

For your strength is the source of righteousness,
and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all.
For you show your strength
when people doubt the completeness of your power,
and you rebuke any insolence among those who know it.
Although you are sovereign in strength,
you judge with mildness,
and with great forbearance you govern us;
for you have power to act whenever you choose.

Through such works you have taught your people
that the righteous must be kind,
and you have filled your children with good hope,
because you give repentance for sins.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Ahh … to release all the judgment to Him is to lift a weight from my shoulders.

It’s a bit laughable that I could even think that my judgment would matter more than His, that it could even compare to His, that it is even anywhere near as merciful as His. To be honest, I judge myself more harshly than anyone else, and it would probably do me good to immerse myself in God’s mercy a little more.

To immerse myself in this verse is to let go to the kingship, the leadership, the first-ness of God and to release me to the good and gentle care of my own soul and into the inspiration which flows from that.

It’s a fine balance between discipline and mercy, the “not letting myself off the hook” versus giving myself a break when I need it. It’s radical honesty, with myself and with others. A friend of mine said, in the middle of a conversation the other night, that she noticed she was all of a sudden feeling anxious. I thought, how remarkable, how mindful, how important that she said it out loud, gave herself the space to feel it, simultaneously giving me permission to be honest about whatever I was feeling. This is God’s mercy at its finest – accountability, honesty, and space.

It reminds me of a verse I noted a long time ago in my Bible – Matthew 5:37 – “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Holding ourselves and each other accountable is necessary and merciful – but Lord, lest we remember Your sovereign mercy, we meet with certain disaster in relationship.

It’s no simple task, balancing humility and righteousness, accountability and mercy, expectation and freedom. So much wisdom and intentionality is required to navigate these subtleties, and I am so grateful for all those who model this in my life and hold me accountable in this way.

Lord God, You are the source of everything. You have nothing to prove to anyone. Thank you for this reminder that You are sovereign and that Your defining quality is mercy. If we know Your heart, we know that You are righteous and expect the same of us – but we also know that Your desire is not for destruction or death. Remind us daily of how You would have us move in the world, and help us to be accountable to You and, therefore, to ourselves and others. Amen.

Lindsay Elford

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Among the Weeds

​A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Breath and Prayer

​A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

God Alone

​A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Nothing to Prove

​A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Archives

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, July 23rd, 2023:
The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time