Week 16 Saturday – Jer 7:1-11; Matthew 13:24-30

Let’s let the image explain the image.

The home garden of my childhood was my mother’s kingdom. Except for the spring digging of the earth, which was the responsibility father, it was she who marked out the beds, flowers and veg, sowed and took care of them. Once, around the end of May, in a fit of childlike zeal, I wanted to help her and weed the beds. She calmly explained what the consequences of my work might be. Look, she said, pointing her hand at the young parsley, it already has lush leaves, but it is poorly rooted. If we pull out this little weed next to it, the parsley will come out too and won’t grow back. You have to wait until it grows deeper roots. Then you will be able deal with the weeds. You’ll see how beautiful it will be. She was right

A few years later, when I listened to the parable of the weeds with full awareness, I had no problems understanding it. And from the lesson my mother taught me for the rest of my life, I remembered that the time for my weeding also has its right time. Then there was a supplementary lesson. An old priest, almost ninety years old, once told me that the most dangerous for the Church are those who are so busy pulling out weeds that they no longer have time or strength to cultivate the good seed. The old man became thoughtful and added: but this is not God.