BEADS OF JOY 07-31-18
“His Kingdom”
©2018 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s Gospel:
Matthew 13:36-43 (Explanation of
The Parable)
“Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
“Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Reflection:
I absolute love it when Jesus takes the time to explain a parable to us. His words of wisdom are entrenched in the parable. But when He takes the time to explain exactly what He meant, the way He intended us to understand it, now that is magnificent. Today we continue reading in Matthew's gospel. Our scripture is Matthew 13:36-43 (Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds). This parable gives us the foresight we need to have so much more patience with the evil around us. Many often wonder, "Why are Catholics such wimps when they are attacked and criticized?" The funny part is, they say that with obviously no scriptural knowledge of God's wrath. See we are not wimps, we are like the kid in the playground who are being beat up and threatened. As we take the hits and hear the slander, our father or mother (GOD) and all of their friends (The Angels), and the police (God's Word) are coming shortly, to pronounce judgment on the guilty. We know if we act like our father asked us to, with kindness and love and forgiveness, that we would receive our eternal reward with Him in Heaven. We must be like Jesus in the Passion. The guilty, sinful, evil doers will be thrown into prison for all eternity, or like Jesus says, "into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." Guess those evil-doers didn't get the memo. God's wrath is sufficient when we wish the enemy to be defeated. Of cause and by all means it would be so much better if the evil people would repent and ask God for forgiveness and mercy. We shall pray for that outcome. We must love our enemies above all things when we are being assaulted. Even if a gun or a knife is at our throat, we must be like Jesus and love and forgive them.
Honestly now, let’s really look at this and understand what Jesus is warning us and the enemy of. The enemy has planted seeds of hatred, angry, violence, lust, pride, selfishness, everything sinful you can possibly imagine. All those seeds have been hurled into our world and they desire to use that evil harvest to entwine us; into their messed-up world of sin against life and love, and against God. And in the end the evil doers of the world want us to be just be like them, so we to separate ourselves from God, by hating them. Not only are the evil doers, the soldiers of satan; but they are deceitful, lying backstabbing people who despise the peace and love that we have with God. Our contentment gives them even more rage. I have seen it with my own eyes and heard with my ears in many a conversation. The funniest part of hearing someone’s anger towards God or Christians or Catholics is by not fighting back... Oh no don't fight or argue. Just let them know that you already know how all this is going to end and you already know who wins. And then further that, if they give the chance to continue speaking and tell them that you forgive them. I will be honest with you; you must have the kahunas to do this. LOL. I mean it, if there is one thing angry mean people hate, is our sincere heartfelt smiles and forgiveness and not even a flinch of offense from them. We act like we don't even hear them or care. We do care, but we can't allow ourselves to respond mean or hatefully. We must not. I know we want to, but we must trust in Jesus as we are abused and slandered. Pray, "Jesus, I trust in You"
You see the battle that has been in place for the last two thousand plus years is Jesus planting His seeds of hope, love and charity all over the world; while satan is doing the exact opposite. There's a saying that most everyone knows, "What goes around comes around." My parents use to say that a lot when I was kid. They'd say to me whenever I'd get angry, "Don't get angry Jim, let's pray that that person finds kindness in their hearts. And if they don't, what goes around comes around." That never needed to be explained to me as kid. It just meant that the evil someone gives you, will one day be the very same evil that they will receive. It's sort of biblical in many ways. We are all sinful in this world, maybe we are not evil doers killing the innocent or deceiving the masses. But regardless we are still guilty of sin. So, we must consider the words Jesus has told us, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~Matthew 7:1-2. Jesus was very serious about this. You see our enemies judge us by our faith and devotion and how we respond, or don’t respond to them. We must not be like them; God’s wrath is waiting for those who do.
We must only allow the love we have for Jesus to dominate our lives and our hearts. Do not allow anger or hatred to enter your heart or the way you react to evil. We must ingrain in our thoughts and understanding that the last will indeed be first and those who rudely believe they are first and that the world revolves around them, they shall be last. Scripture is clear on this, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” ~Matthew 19:29-30. We must always put Jesus first in our lives over every single person we know, and every single thing we possess. When in doubt, pray out loud, “Jesus, I trust in You!!!”
The Parable of The
Weeds Explained
Obedience- Fr Larry
Richards
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
Today is Tuesday: We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:
The Sorrowful Mysteries
1. Agony on the Garden (Sorrow for sin) –Matt 26:36-46
2. Scourging at the Pillar (Purity) –Mark 15:1-16
3. Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage) –Matt 27:27-31
4. Carrying of the Cross (Patience) –Mark 15:20-22
5. The Crucifixion (Perseverance) –Luke 23:33-46
Thank you Lord for loving us so much…
Rosary Man Jim’s Sorrowful Reflection: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-sorrowful-mysteries_11.html
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