Gospel: July 30, 2024
July 30, 2024 (Tuesday)
17th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green/White)
St. Peter Chrysologus, bishop & doctor
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 79: 8, 9, 11, 13
For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 14: 17-22
Gospel: Matthew 13: 36-43
Then he sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the angels.
Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.
Reflection: “Exercise of righteousness”
We continue our journey while picking up again from the parable of the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13. In today’s Gospel, the disciples pleaded with Jesus to explain the meaning of the parable of the weeds and wheat.
In Jesus’ explanation, judgment will happen in the end. As the weeds will be pulled up and burned during harvest season, the evildoers will be judged in the end times. The righteous will be separated from the evildoers. The evildoers will be thrown into blazing furnace while the just ones will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the heavenly Father.
Matthew’s Gospel challenges us to enter into the process of righteousness. It is in this process that we become the children of the heavenly Father. Everything that we do, concerning the law and worship, will all be judged by our exercise of righteousness. The litmus paper to test if we have truly become a just person is the exercise of compassion.
Like the wheat that stands amidst the weeds, it is through the practice of righteousness that we shall shine as God’s children. Being compassionate in a world that is lacking in compassion will make a difference.
