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FRIARS OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS MASS OF THE JULY 28
WHEAT AND WEEDS While the focus of the parable of the sower is on the ‘various conditions of the soil producing various crop yields, the focus of the parable of the wheat and the weeds is on the command of the landowner to his servants to patiently allow both weeds and wheat to grow until harvest time. As brothers, superiors and as a general chapter, I think we are asked by Jesus to be realistic about what we do in this chapter so that we do not become disillusioned. We will never become perfect or solve the problem of erring brothers no matter how good the Acts of this chapter are. Perhaps this is the reason why instead of writing about ‘the ways of perfection’, our brother, Simon Tugwell, wrote rather of ‘the ways of imperfection’. And no matter how carefully we screen our candidates it will always be very difficult to discern between genuine vocations and those that are not. We are a mixed lot. “There is so much good in the worst of us and there is so much bad in the best of us.” We are all very much alike! And no matter how good our initial and on-going formation programs are, there will always be weeds growing--beyond our terms as provincials, until the next general chapter, and even until the end of time. Somehow weeds have a more fighting chance to survive. I can think of two reasons why. First, every gardener knows that weeds have a firmer and quicker grip over the ground. Faced with this challenge, there is a greater need to care for the more delicate ones, the young ones in our communities who are just beginning to learn the rudiments of religious life. They are more susceptible to bad example. That is why we are careful about the people we send in our houses of initial formation. But there are many more positive concerns that provincials need to address. We cannot spend all our energies just dealing with our problematic brothers and filing canonical cases here and there. Imagine the load of work Bob Ombres would have if all that we do is weeding out. In our commission, (I suppose also in yours) we are bent not so much on decrying the negatives but on re-enforcing the good that one can still find in our communities. The second reason why weeds seem to have a greater chance to survive is that they are more adaptable and more prolific. They spread more easily. One wonders where they come from? You uproot one here, another grows there. They mutate to adapt to the environment. You think that one is a stalk of wheat and later you discover to your consternation it has become a weed. On the other hand those we thought were weeds have pleasantly mutated to become wheat. This kind of mutation is more specifically our human condition. People change. I hope we do not plant wheat in initial formation only to be dismayed at the end that they have become weeds. No one can be presumptuous that he can be wheat at all times. On the other hand, we cannot be judgmental that those whom we consider weeds can only serve fuel to the eternal fires. We need a lot of patience-for others and especially for ourselves. St. James whose feast we just celebrated and his brother, St. John whom we know as the Beloved disciple when faced by opposition from the Samaritans both impulsively had an unloving and fiery solution to remove the undesirables: “Lord, do you want us to call fire from heaven to destroy them?” That violent streak has never really disappeared among Christ’s present disciples. How often have been tempted to take action immediately: to uproot the weeds in our midst as soon as we spot them. Aha, there I got you. Out you go! We need a lot of patience and tolerance. There is a Chinese proverb which says: “One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life”. Why does the landowner allow the weeds to grow side by side with the wheat or why does God allow evil to exist? --that age-old question. Amazingly, the reason is to protect the good seed. “You pull up the weeds; you pull up the wheat too”. Oddly, there is always something to learn from the negative and that is why we ‘need’ them too. We are what we are today not just because of the good examples we have learned but also because of the bad ones we have seen. Kahlil Gibran says; “I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers”. And so my brothers, thank those who test your patience! Don’t give them away to other provinces! Jesus is the ground of all patience and tolerance. However, he too is the final end of tolerance. On the last day, when he comes to judge, all tolerance ceases. Strangely, since the justice of God will consign to everlasting punishment all those who stubbornly refuse His mercy, we must set aside ah anger, all desire for vengeance. We must instead love our enemies. By his death on the cross, Christ alone has the right to sit in judgment to reward the good and punish the evil. Make room, therefore, for tolerance for each other, for tolerance for each other’s behavior, tolerance for each other’ s beliefs, not in spite of but because of the absolute Kingship of Jesus. My brothers, after we have laboriously worked during this chapter, after we have done our daily task, go to sleep and rest in peace. It is not just the evil one that is awake. Our loving God too is awake. |
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Capítulo General 2007 - ORDEN DE PREDICADORES |
