16th Sunday of Ordinary time 2023 | Homily for 23 July 2023

 

“He’s come a long way”, haven’t you heard this idiom often being used by teachers when

their students come back to meet them many years after they pass out from school? There is a

sense of pride for the teachers to see their students grown and matured into good and

successful adults from the timid and even naughty children that they used to be all those years

ago. The readings today in a way point out to us that good things take time.

On this 16th Sunday in ordinary time, the first reading is taken from the Wisdom of Solomon.

Now this book was written sometime between 50 –30 BCE in Greek in Alexandria which

was the then capital city of Egypt. The Jews at that time were treated as outcastes in the

sophisticated Alexandrian society. The author of the Wisdom of Solomon wanted to reclaim

Judaism from wavering and the book is therefore addressed to the Jews to tell them of their

rich heritage and to encourage them to take pride in their traditional faith. The reading shows

us a merciful and patient God rather than a strict, angry and disapproving God. God is so

powerful and wise that He need not be vengeful and quick to punish. I fondly remember my

scripture professor telling us in class ‘God can control his anger, but he cannot control his

mercy.’ God is patiently waiting for even the biggest sinner to turn and come back to him.

In the second reading taken from St Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul tells us that God has

given us His Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with

sighs that words cannot express. I’m sure you would have had this question at some point or

the other – why do I need to pray? One answer is that all of us are weak, which is why we

need to pray. St. Paul included himself with us as one who was weak. The main reason that

we do not pray as frequently or as fervently as we should is that we do not recognize how

weak we really are. When we look at the Bible we’ll see the biblical heroes like Elijah, and

Moses praying and we for sure have read the gospels telling us that Jesus, the Son of God,

was himself praying. Surely, this is a good list to be a part of.

Sometimes, however, when we pray, our prayers sound more like a checklist that we have

prepared for God. God I need you to do this, this and this for me. At times, we try to pray but

fall asleep or find ourselves distracted by other concerns. The Holy Spirit communicates with

the Father in a deep, intimate, and wordless language that we can’t comprehend or express. 

The Holy Spirit knows what is best for our life.  He knows God’s plan for us and prays for

God to accomplish His work in us. The important point here is that it’s not the method that’s

important but rather the relationship we have with God. When we focus on God we will be

able to stop focusing on our words and simply enjoy our conversation with our Father. Since

God searches and knows every heart, our prayers should come from the heart. Prayer is not

an elocution competition to impress others but it is an intimate conversation between two

friends.

The gospel taken from Matthew continues from last Sunday and presents before us 3 parables

related to the kingdom of heaven. The first is the parable of the weeds among the wheat and

while the gospel also includes the text of Jesus explaining the parable concerning the end of

times it must be noted that, in their original telling, these parables would not have told with

the explanation; these have been added at a later date. 

In the parable, an enemy sows weeds among the wheat and goes away and the slaves are

anxious to root out the weeds right away. The master, however, restrains his servants. Who

among us has not wanted to take matters into our own hands and root out the evil in our

midst? Many a time we too react like the slaves and are keen on denouncing the actions of

people and judging them. But somehow we don’t apply those same standards to

ourselves. The farmer’s strange practice of allowing the wheat and weeds to grow up together

is understood as a symbol of God’s patience with people like us – sinners who rely on God’s

forbearance.

The other two parables, that of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast which follows

immediately after it, are a pair. Both parables speak about an action which starts as small and

gradually results in something far larger. In the Hebrew Scriptures, both trees and birds of the

air have a special significance. Trees are often used as a symbol of a kingdom but also serve

as a symbol of God’s restoration of Israel. We have references to this in the prophet Ezekiel

(17:22-24) and Daniel (Chpt 4). The ‘birds of the air’ can be a reference to Gentiles or Non-

Jews implying that the kingdom of heaven is available to those who may not be considered

‘worthy’. 

In the second parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to yeast. Yeast, by nature, is a

small element that when it begins to grow affects what it contacts. When we accept Christ his

grace and love grows in our heart and changes us from the inside. Let us consider the origin

of the church. Jesus had chosen only 12 apostles and today the church has over a billion

members. In our personal lives as well, we are called to focus on these seemingly small and

insignificant gifts and talents that we have. We are to water those little seeds that Jesus has

planted in us to see them grow into marvellous trees. I come across so many youths who are

afraid to make those small beginnings, who waste so much of their life waiting for the perfect

opportunity. Unfortunately, by the time they try to water the seed, the seed has already died

out.

Let us this week make an effort to go a little slow on judging others and take the courage to

start doing those small acts which have been postponed for a long time. A simple act of

kindness or thought for another person can make a significant difference, not just to that

person but can have a ripple effect far beyond the original act. We can in this way contribute

to building the kingdom of heaven on earth. May God bless us all.