St Ignatius Parish

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 20 July 2008

Last week we were presented with the story of the sower.

Today the story continues. Interestingly, the servants approach the master: “Wasn't it good seed you planted?” Why on earth would the master sow when he has good and able servants to do it?

We tend to think of these stories are about us - about what kind of soil we are, etc…. In reality these stories are about God. It's God who spreads the seed of the Word all over the world. It's about a God who is patient and who looks ahead with optimism and trust. Notice, its God who waits and gives the order to burn the darnel.

We run the risk of playing God and being more zealous, to want immediate solutions and fix everything. We want to root out terrorism, and need to protect our borders so that enemies can't come and sow weeds. We label people and movements; want to destroy them, even at the cost of uprooting the growing tender plants of our own developing culture. In our efforts to destroy “terrorism”, we run the risk of destroying our humanity, and we treat everyone with suspicion.

We probably need to get back to our relationship with God, to learn again what God wants - “mercy, not sacrifice”; to understand how generous and patient and understanding our God really is, and once again to become whole and human in our dealings with each other.