Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Righteous Will Shine

Beads of Joy 07-17-11

The Righteous Will Shine
©2011 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everybody,

The world of “Parables” that Jesus has brought to us, is exciting, insightful and full of love and wisdom; Jesus has set all of this into place to help guide us even closer to Himself. Today’s gospel is rather long and has three separate parts to look at. Today we are reflecting upon Matthew 13:24-43, verses 24-30, “Parable of the weeds among the wheat.” verses 31-35, “Jesus explains the mustard seed and the leaven.” And in verses 36-43, “Jesus explains the parable of the weeds.” So much to talk about in today’s gospel, maybe a reflection on how the weeds and the wheat are growing together in our society. Good and evil are inextricably interwoven in our world; there is no question that this is a true fact. Let us at least know the difference. In today’s parable God allowed both the weeds and the wheat to grow together. His wisdom knew that trying to separate them in the world we live in will only destroy the good in it. Let’s face a simple truth, without evil, there is no good. Positive can’t exist and even be seen as positive if negative didn’t exist. But when the two are side by side; the positive and the good shine, and the two are compared. But if there were only one, how then can we know that there are negative and bad things that we must avoid? God through the Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts and mind and soul to know Him; and once we know Him and all that is good, we can easily see evil and what is bad. The only place in the universe that only has positive, good, holy things is Heaven. So while we are here on earth, let us pray for the wisdom to know the difference.

Jesus distinctly teaches us that this earth is God’s. Scripture clearly states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. That without a doubt very clearly tells us that we who believe in Him shall not perish. God loves us with all His heart. In today’s gospel Jesus is the sower, and the enemy is satan. Didn’t the enemy do this sowing of bad seed before? Adam and Eve were betrayed and mislead by the same evil seed. Today’s parable does share the wisdom of God and that He alone knows that the separation of the one or the other is beyond anything we can possibly understand, that is why they must grow together. But in this same scripture God says that this intermingling won’t last forever, but that at the time of harvest the two shall be separated. The final judgment shall come, and our free will to either do whatever we want or do what His will wants will determine the eternal destination of our soul. God gives us so many resources and so many wonderful Godly people to help guide us to Him. Let us stay focused on Jesus no matter what.

Are we aware of the destructive evil that surrounds us in this world? I would say yes, for the most part, evil stands out. Yes, good and evil, more and more are being distorted and blurred together, making it ever so much harder to know the difference. The government has its own evil way of supporting evil and sin, while making doing what is right difficult. With that being said, we see the difference. We also know that we can’t rely on society or the government to be the spiritual leaders we need to be, to help direct our children and grandchildren to Jesus. We as God’s children must sincerely without a doubt, live a life pleasing to God and that we must do all we can to direct our children and family to Jesus. But we do realize in the common sense of all that, that we all have a free will and that sometimes even in our prayers we lose people. Those people must remain lifted in our prayers. Sometimes it is God alone who must redirect that person back to their faith. All we should be doing is love and pray for them, placing all our Trust in Him.

In the end we will all reap and get exactly what we have sown through this life. We can’t sit in judgment against others condemning them. God knows the hearts and minds of His children. We must learn to forgive and move forward. We do not have to befriend evil, or share coffee with those who have hurt or offended us, but we as Christians must not wish evil or seek evil revenge on those who hurt us. We must instead pray for that individual and do all we can to help direct them to Jesus. God knows our hearts; He knows what we can handle and what we can’t. Let us place all your trust in Him and ask Him to bless and love those who have been evil to us. I know all this first hand, forgiveness even to those who have done all they can to break up our family. I wish no evil or revenge on the evil seeds that have been sown; I instead pray for them every single day. God knows I can’t break bread with them, but He knows I can pray for them, and He knows that in my heart I can through His shed blood; love them in spite of all that has happened. I embrace pain and suffering with God’s strength. It is through that that my faith is what it is today. There is no storm, no tsunami, no earth shaking event that shall ever draw me personally away from my Lord. In all that is good and evil, I thank God in all things; and do what I can to only help His will to continue in my life.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr. SFO

Today we pray the Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption
5. The Coronation