Dear Parish Family,

If one was striving to be the most powerful person in the world, what do you think they would seek? Many would probably pursue wealth, success, reputation, positions of power or influence, or something of that nature. We may be surprised to hear how God shows us in today's Scriptures that what makes Him most powerful is His mercy. Interesting. His might is His mercy, and His mercy is the most powerful force in the world. I like it!

The first reading from Wisdom tells us that God's justice is His mercy: "Your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all." The power of God is wielded for justice and mercy. We frequently think of the all power as corrupt as it takes advantage of those weaker than ourselves, but the true nature of power as God intended it is to take care of those less fortunate, just as God does with us in our weakness.

St. Paul reminds the Romans that "the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness" in helping us to pray. Although God continues to remind us of His mercy, patience, gentleness, and generosity with us, we continue to struggle to approach Him in our weakness and needs. We often strive to "be good" for God or only go to Him when absolutely desperate or when we feel we have something good to share with Him. We might fear sharing those unsavory parts of our life with God. Yet the Spirit of God helps us to pray by reminding us of God's leniency towards our weaknesses and struggles. 

In the Gospel, Jesus offers another parable involving the sower and seeds. God plants the good seeds, but the enemy comes along and sows weeds. The servants in the parable want to uproot the weeds right away, but God instructs them to let the weeds grow with the wheat, the good with the bad, so as not to uproot any wheat accidentally. The weeds will be taken care of at harvest time. Perhaps God says this because the servants aren't able to fully determine which is what at this point, and the weeds may prove to serve an unexpected purpose of God's grace. 

The unexpected result is that the weeds serve to test and strengthen the wheat to grow amidst harsh conditions. Apply this either to what's in our own heart, or to the people or situations in our lives. For our own heart, we know that while temptations can undermine our fruitfulness to God, they can also strengthen our resolve to follow Him by choosing to reject what is evil. 

We may also have difficult people and situations in our lives. Instead of trying to remove these people or situations completely, consider how these people or situations are strengthening us in holiness and our resolve to follow Christ more closely. There may be some times when we need to remove ourselves from a dangerous or toxic relationship, but that is very different from avoiding every challenging person or situation that comes our way. We may even help some of those wicked weeds turn into good wheat through our patient perseverance and example!

In essence, God permits evil to strengthen what is good and holy in our lives. His mercy permits evil for a time, giving everything and everyone a chance to unite themselves more closely to Him. 

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow