Even EVIL Has a Place in God's Plan

Even EVIL has a place in God's plan
and He will explain everything at the
Final Judgment - see you then!



July 17 - XVI Sunday in Ordinary Time


Another "seed" liturgy - you wonder if the Lord told both parables within roughly the same time-frame as he looked across the fields, saw men doing what they did every year (the good seed, of course!) and effortlessly composed his immortal teaching. More likely, Matthew brings them together to suit his purposes.


Whatever about that, we are confronted here with a divine richness: not just one parable, but three!


But first, as usual, the First Reading which is a beautiful quote from the Book of Wisdom, getting away from the grubby details of sowers and reapers and concentrating on the sublime and supreme power of God Who has everything completely under control to such a degree that He can allow evil to exist and indeed "give his children grounds for hope" and "permit repentance for their sin." We can doubt the power and love of God but that does not diminish it. When He wishes and as He wishes . . . things happen and happen in total justice and love. Only at the Last Judgment will you and I appreciate the truth of this statement when we hear the Judge explain even the most complicated situations and when we hear our faith in Him rewarded.


The Responsorial Psalm -as always - confirms the thought in the First Reading. It is interesting to see the emphasis on the power and wisdom and love of God in this part of the liturgy which is expressed in a different way later.


Continuing our reading from Romans, St. Paul in the Second Reading gives a thought parallel to the thought in Reading No 1 but he expresses it in terms of the "Spirit" - perfectly in line, of course because God is essentially a Spirit and He is in your life and mine in that context. Certainly we do not understand how this works but with great joy we recognize in our lives the constant inspirations of the Spirit and can only hope and pray that we do not spoil too many of them!


The Gospel, as we see, is not one Parable but three, the main one being the first. A significant line in that context is the householder's wise statement: "let them grow together until harvest-time." This parallels the line in the First Reading: "Your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all" and it raises the perennial question: how can God make evil grow so great at times and evil people grow prosperous? The simplest answer is that in God's work everything has a place, even things and people that are evil. God does not tolerate them because they are evil but a) because He never gives up on even the most depraved human soul and b) because they form a material part of His plan which would not be quite complete without them and for this reason they must be left play their part. The goodness of God is equaled only by His infinite wisdom and foresight. We thank Him for - literally - making us a part of His plan we could not deserve and we continue to pray for our modern world which has more than its share of weeds! (The other 2 parables refer possibly to the uncertain condition of the Church when Matthew wrote and so are aimed at sustaining the faith of his readers. We need quite a bit of sustaining ourselves in these difficult days as we look out at the suffering Church.)