"WHOEVER HAS EARS OUGHT TO HEAR.”

 

Sunday, July 23, 2023 — Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"WHOEVER HAS EARS OUGHT TO HEAR.”

 Jesus continues to teach through parables. Today, Sunday, Jesus shares three parables with us (Mt 13: 24-43): The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of the Yeast mixed in the flour. Finally, the explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds only appears at the request of his disciples.

The first of these parables we have already said that Jesus himself explains it. In it, he exposes how good and bad grow together, but only at harvest time, at the opportune time, can one be distinguished from the other, since at the beginning wheat and weeds look very similar, and one can only be distinguished from the other thanks to its fruits. Precisely at the moment in which one thing can be differentiated from another, it will be the moment to give to everyone what they have offered to the world and to God, for some it will be the Kingdom of God, for others the fire. With this parable Jesus leads us to meditate on our personal behaviors, and if they are in accordance with God's will.

The other two parables (the mustard seed, and the yeast in the flour) seek to explain how the grace of God works that makes the Kingdom of God possible. It is an internal force that without being felt, can transform everything it touches, this is how in a discreet, silent, and unstoppable way, the grace of God makes it pass from one reality to another without perceiving it, but effectively: everything is transformed.

Once again, we are called to pay attention to the teachings of Jesus because only by listening to Him can we understand what the will of the Father is for us. God seeks our greatest good, and helps us mature as human beings and as his children.

Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA