July 23
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Lord, you are good and forgiving.”
Readings
Reflection
Our readings for this Sunday offer us quite a portrait of God for our reflection. The mercy and the justice of God are not things at odds or separate from each other but are both essential to who God is, and they are always held together as one.
Both our first reading from the Book of Wisdom and the parable of the Weeds and Wheat from Matthew’s Gospel display the captivating mystery of how such mercy and justice unfold. While there is a significant level of seriousness in the implications of what is presented today—namely, that there is such a thing as an ultimate or final judgment of us at the end of all things and that God indeed has such power over us—we should still allow these words to resonate in us at our core as a message of hope and good news.
The Lord’s apparent patience or tolerance toward evil, sin, and suffering in this world is itself an expression of mercy and simultaneously it is evidence for the Lord’s desire for all to come to repentance and the desire for all to receive salvation and eternal life. And here, we might recall wisdom from St. Teresa of Ávila: God doesn't change, patience obtains all things. Out of love and desire for us to know the fullness of life and authentic joy in Him and for us to also know that our free actions and choices have implications, Jesus puts this parable forth before us.
While the temptations might be to either be filled with fear (in the negative sense of being afraid of God never to approach him) or overly generous toward ourselves (as in being convinced that I’m not in need of changing my life to better respond to the teachings of the Gospel), we rather should be courageous to look ourselves honestly and examine where we are in our discipleship. This gesture of humility is not lost on the Lord, who desires to provide us all the graces necessary to be lifted up and strengthened to joyfully live the Gospel. The deep consolation for us is that we will never be abandoned or left wanting as we continue striving to respond to this call…remember Jesus’ invitation: “Come to Me, you who labor and are burdened…”
Let’s ask the Lord to pour out his grace to strengthen and purify our hearts that we may be saved from any spiritual blindness we may have, and be filled with confidence that as the Lord transforms us by way of His mercy, we will then be more free to receive and to extend that remarkable gift of divine mercy.
Peace,
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