From: Matthew 13:24-43
The Parable of the Weeds
The Mustard Seed; The Leaven
[33] He told them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a leaven which
a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.”
[34] All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed He said nothing to them
without a parable. [35] This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will
open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the founda-
tion of the world.”
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
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Commentary:
24-25. “The situation is clear: the field is fertile and the seed is good; the Lord of
the field has scattered the seed at the right moment and with great skill. He even
has watchmen to make sure that the field is protected. If, afterwards, there are
weeds among the wheat, it is because men have failed to respond, because they
— and Christians in particular — have fallen asleep and allowed the enemy to ap-
proach” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 123).
25. This weed—cockle—looks very like wheat and can easily be mistaken for it un-
til the ears appear. If it gets ground up with wheat it contaminates the flour and a-
ny bread made from that flour causes severe nausea when eaten. In the East per-
sonal vengeance sometimes took the form of sowing cockle among an enemy’s
wheat. Roman law prescribed penalties for this crime.
28. “When the careless servants ask the Lord why weeds have grown in his field,
the explanation is obvious: ‘inimicus homo hoc fecit: an enemy has done this.’
We Christians should have been on guard to make sure that the good things
placed in this world by the Creator were developed in the service of truth and
good. But we have fallen asleep—a sad thing, that sluggishness of our heart while
the enemy and all those who serve him worked incessantly. You can see how the
weeds have grown abundantly everywhere” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”,
123).
29-30. The end of this parable gives a symbolic explanation of why God allows
evil to have its way for a time—and for its ultimate extirpation. Evil is to run its
course on earth until the end of time; therefore, we should not be scandalized
by the presence of evil in the world. It will be obliterated not in this life, but after
death; at the Judgment (the harvest) the good will go to Heaven and the bad to
Hell.
31-32. Here, the man is Jesus Christ and the field, the world. The grain of mus-
tard seed is the preaching of the Gospel and the Church, which from very small
beginnings will spread throughout the world.
The parable clearly refers to the universal scope and spread of the Kingdom of
God: the Church, which embraces all mankind of every kind and condition, in eve-
ry latitude and in all ages, is forever developing in spite of obstacles, thanks to
God’s promise and aid.
33. This comparison is taken from everyday experience: just as leaven gradually
ferments all the dough, so the Church spreads to convert all nations.
The leaven is also a symbol of the individual Christian. Living in the middle of the
world and retaining his Christian quality, he wins souls for Christ by his word and
example: “Our calling to be children of God, in the midst of the world, requires us
not only to seek our own personal holiness, but also to go out onto all the ways
of the earth, to convert them into roadways that will carry souls over all obsta-
cles and lead them to the Lord. As we take part in all temporal activities as or-
dinary citizens, we are to become leaven acting on the mass” (St. J. Escriva,
“Christ Is Passing By”, 120).
34-35. Revelation, God’s plans, are hidden (cf. Matthew 11:25) from those who
are disposed to accept them. The Evangelist wishes to emphasize the need for
simplicity and for docility to the Gospel. By recalling Psalm 78:2, he tells us once
more, under divine inspiration, that the Old Testament prophecies find their fulfill-
ment in our Lord’s preaching.
36-43. While making its way on earth, the Church is composed of good and bad
people, just men and sinners: they are mixed in with one another until the harvest
time, the end of the world, when the Son of Man, in His capacity as Judge of the
living and the dead, will divide the good from the bad at the Last Judgment—the
former going to eternal glory, the inheritance of the saints; the latter, to the eter-
nal fire of Hell. Although the just and the sinners are now side by side, the Church
has the right and the duty to exclude those who cause scandal, especially those
who attack its doctrine and unity; this it can do through ecclesiastical excommu-
nication and other canonical penalties. However, excommunication has a medici-
nal and pastoral function—to correct those who are obstinate in error, and to pro-
tect others from them.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading |
Wisdom 12:13,16-19 © |
There is no god, other than you, who cares for every thing,
to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly;
Your justice has its source in strength,
your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all.
You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned
and you expose the insolence of those who know it;
but, disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement,
you govern us with great lenience,
for you have only to will, and your power is there.
By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people
how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men,
and you have given your sons the good hope
that after sin you will grant repentance.
Psalm |
Psalm 85:5-6,9-10,15-16 © |
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
All the nations shall come to adore you
and glorify your name, O Lord:
for you are great and do marvellous deeds,
you who alone are God.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
But you, God of mercy and compassion,
slow to anger, O Lord,
abounding in love and truth,
turn and take pity on me.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
Second reading |
Romans 8:26-27 © |
The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.
Gospel Acclamation |
cf.Ep1:17,18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Or |
Mt11:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
EITHER:
Gospel |
Matthew 13:24-43 © |
Jesus put another parable before the crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’
He put another parable before them, ‘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 when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’
He told them another parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’
In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:
I will speak to you in parables
and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
OR:
Alternative Gospel |
Matthew 13:24-30 © |
Jesus put another parable before the crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’