by Fr. Edward Foley, Capuchin<\/em><\/p>\n A former colleague who spent decades training young ministers Some are gifted at resolving math problems Writing is a skill that I have developed over the years Like many during this pandemic, My new outlet for exercise is lawncare at the family home \u2026 Various business sources and media outlets consistently report Folk are planting vegetable gardens at a rate not seen It was while I was in this weed-eradicating state of mind, While it is truer with a crop like wheat or barley, Obviously, Jesus was not especially concerned about agriculture Rather, the parable like other aspects of Matthew\u2019s gospel One commentator suggests that Matthew was writing The commentator muses:<\/p>\n From that perspective, this parable has a lot to say Are those who support Black Lives Matter wheat or weeds? Then of course the there is the looming presidential election: The followers of Jesus are forewarned today Maybe even more challenging, Parables are tricky things, Parables are not just moralizing but also intentionally destabilizing, As part of my lawn crusade the past months, Landscape architect David Seiter is one who Parables similarly help us reimagine weeds, Parables explode self-righteous bubbles of religiosity. The Christian community is not a field of groomed lilies Rather we are a sprawling field of plants and bugs \u2026 If we started yanking up every weed in the community, Christians don\u2019t just have parables to read, But the parable did not end there, Christian life is a parable: it is seldom what we expected. Jesus promises to forgive our sins and give us eternal life, The earliest followers of Jesus were not called Christians, That path lies before us as well, The task facing the baptized is to travel the path of the parables How to do that is not always clear, As we shelter in place, don our masks, wash our hands, So that the justice drenched dream we call the Kingdom of God Through Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n
\noften said that each of us has a strong suit,
\na trump card,
\na secret advantage
\nthat we deploy in uncertain or stressful situations
\nto assert our value
\nand confirm our self-worth.<\/p>\n
\nand others can conjure a meal out of virtually nothing.
\nThe shadow-side to possessing a particular talent
\nis the disappointment or at least challenge it brings
\nto tasks that do not come as easily.<\/p>\n
\nthat comes relatively easy and with modest success.
\nOn the other hand, I do not know how to grow a lawn.<\/p>\n
\nsheltering in place and social distancing
\nhas reshaped my activities and redirected my energies.<\/p>\n
\nand like the surrounding neighbors
\nI am not only spending serious time cutting the grass,
\nedging the lawn,
\ntrimming the bushes and even felling small trees,
\nbut also trying to grow grass in place of the clover & dandelions;
\nThe clover is currently winning.<\/p>\n
\nthat while the economy is experiencing a broad recession,
\nthe gardening\/lawncare\/landscaping sector
\nis (excuse the pun) showing enormous growth.<\/p>\n
\nsince the Victory Gardens of World War II.
\nTurfbuilder and similar products are flying off the shelf,
\nand the supply of weed killer available
\nat my local Home Depot this past week
\nwas seriously depleted.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwondering how much spurge or foxtail I can rip out
\nwithout decimating the front lawn,
\nthat I plunged into the readings for this Sunday
\nand the very practical advice from the carpenter turned farmer
\nthat Jesus communicates in today\u2019s gospel.<\/p>\n
\nif one mounts an all out assault on the weeds
\nthe grass is also going to suffer.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nin this parable.
\nNor was Matthew offering prophetic lawn care advice.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nseem to be concerned with community conflict
\nwith a local church that is divided and full of disputes.<\/p>\n
\nto a mixed Jewish and Gentile congregation.
\nNeither group wanted to accept the other
\nand each metaphorically viewed the other as weeds
\nand themselves as wheat.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cPerhaps the Jewish Christians felt that since they were
\n<\/span>sons and daughters of Abraham
\n<\/span>they were the wheat and the Gentile Christians
\n<\/span>were an obstacle to their growth.<\/span><\/h5>\nPerhaps the Gentile Christians felt that they were the wheat
\nwith their freedom from old rules and that
\nthe Jewish Christians were an obstacle to their growth<\/span><\/h5>\nIf we can’t be quite sure who is a weed and who is wheat
\nwe’re better off not touching anything\u201d [1].<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nabout the current landscape in our country
\nthat is so deeply divided on so many issues.<\/p>\n
\nHow about those who reject mask wearing?
\nOr social distancing in public?
\n<\/span>Where do they sit on the botanical scale?
\n<\/span>Is Dr. Anthony Fauci wheat or weed?
\n<\/span>Or the CDC \u2026 or the World Health Organization?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwhich of the candidates is the real deal?
\nWho is Kentucky bluegrass
\nand which is just chickweed \u2026 or maybe even kudzu?
\nBe prepared for a lot of weed slinging
\nas the election gets closer.<\/p>\n
\nto avoid weed whacking and plant uprooting,
\nof prematurely judging who is weed and who is wheat.<\/p>\n
\nwe are urged to embrace an image of God who is not
\nthe King of crab-grass killers
\nor the Prince of Weed-B-Gone,
\nbut as announced in the first reading: the embodiment of wisdom,
\na God who judges with clemency,
\nwhose justice is kindness and who is the ground of hope.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfor their Gospel function is more subversive and profound
\nthan first meets the eye.
\nThis is true of today\u2019s multidimensional gospel,
\nwhich is more than a caution against judgment,
\nabout uprooting too soon or weed whacking too carelessly.<\/p>\n
\npulling the rug out from under
\n<\/span>our views of the world and of God and of each other.
\nLike well-designed gospel incendiaries,
\nthey unexpectedly explode the self-serving mythologies
\nwe build around our most precious beliefs
\n<\/span>and use to ward off our deepest fears.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI have run across a series of scholarly articles and resources
\nthat shockingly argue for the value of weeds.
\n<\/span>Some have even rejected the denigrating \u201cweed\u201d label
\n<\/span>and reference them as \u201cspontaneous urban plants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\npromotes this rechristened urban species
\nfor their ability to cool cities,
\n<\/span>conserve water,
\n<\/span>and sequester carbon [2].<\/p>\n
\nreimagine neighbors,
\nreimagine justice,
\nreimagine God in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\nThey turn on us and proclaim with Alleluias and Acclamations,
\n\u201cHey, baptized, wake up \u2013 you\u2019re not just in<\/strong><\/em> the weeds
\n<\/span>but are part of<\/strong><\/em> the weed pack as well!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nor a beautifully manicured rose garden<\/p>\n
\nflowers and rodents \u2026
\n<\/span>wheat and weeds \u2026
\nsaints, sinners, and everyone in between.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwe\u2019d decimate the baptismal pool
\nand probably uproot ourselves as well.<\/p>\n
\nwe have the ultimate parable of Jesus to follow,
\nwhose life was an unexpected tale
\nof the unpredictable and the preposterous,
\nof kingship from a manger,
\nand hidden holiness in backwater Nazareth;
\nof Samaritan divorcees turned apostle
\nand a stubborn fisherman as the first \u201cpope;\u201d
\nof leper embracing and sin forgiving
\nthat so offended locals and leaders
\nthat, eventually fed up with his parabolic antics,
\nthey put a price on his head, payed it full in silver
\n<\/span>and then executed him in the public square.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfor Jesus pulled the rug out from under death
\nand dared any who follows him
\ninto this same death-defying life.<\/p>\n
\nIt is not the polarized society or bruised church we expected,
\nnot the squabbling political leadership we expected,
\nnot the global bill of health we expected,
\nnor the web of family pressures we expected.<\/p>\n
\nbut he never promises to extract us from the parables of life:
\nthe kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,
\nthe kingdom of heaven is like a global pandemic,
\nthe kingdom of heaven is like a treaty with Native Americans,
\nthe kingdom of heaven is like a Confederate statue in public view,
\nthe kingdom of heaven is like your life and mine.<\/p>\n
\nthey were called followers of the way,
\nbecause Jesus gave them a path, not a religious institution;
\na path to mercy and justice, hope and radical love.<\/p>\n
\nthrough pandemic and racism,
\nin the face of economic hardship and heroic charity,
\nin the company of the saints and sinners we call church.<\/p>\n
\nwith determination and humility,
\nso that in the process we and the communities we inhabit
\nwill be transformed more clearly into God\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n
\nthough the poet helps us imagine, as he writes:<\/p>\n\n
It was a world of waste and wonder, of poverty and plenty,
\nback before we understood why hindsight\u2019s 2020<\/h5>\n\u2026 the people [created] companies to trade across all lands
\nbut they swelled and got much bigger than we ever could have planned.<\/h5>\nWe always had our wants, but now, it got so quick
\nyou [gained] anything you dream[t] of, in a day and with a click<\/h5>\n\u2026 every day the skies grew thicker, \u2018till you couldn\u2019t see the stars,
\nso, we flew in planes to find them, while \u2026 below we filled our cars<\/h5>\n\u2026 We [choked] the sea with plastic [as] our waste was never capped
\ntil, each day when you went fishing, you\u2019d [catch them now] pre-wrapped<\/h5>\n\u2026 But then in 2020, a new virus came our way,
\nThe governments reacted and [bid us] hide away.<\/h5>\nBut while we were all hidden, [a burden and a trial],
\n[some] dusted off their instincts, they remembered how to smile.<\/h5>\n[They said thank you to the nurses and were] calling up their mums
\nand while the car keys gathered dust, they\u2019d look forward to their runs<\/h5>\n\u2026 with the skies less full of voyagers, the earth began to breathe
\nand the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled \u2026to the seas.<\/h5>\nSome people [zoomed support groups while others took up] baking
\nwe\u2019d grown so used to bad news, but \u2026 good news was in the making<\/h5>\nAnd so when we found the cure and were [free] to go outside
\n[we began to like] the world we found [not] the one we\u2019d left behind.<\/h5>\nOld habits [slowly faded] and they made way for the new
\nand \u2026 simple act[s] of kindness [were] given [their right] due<\/h5>\nWhy did it take us so long to bring [us] back together?
\n[Because] sometimes [its necessary] to get sick, before you\u2019re feeling better.<\/h5>\nNow, \u2026 dream about tomorrow and \u2026 the things that we can do
\nand \u2026 if you dream them hard enough, [they surely] will come true [3].<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nand maintain social distancing,
\nwe do not distance ourselves from the parables of Jesus
\nor the parable who is Jesus,
\nbut again become followers of the way
\nas we set out on this unpredictable journey
\nwith deep faith
\nand unflagging hope
\nand renewed charity.<\/p>\n
\nwill be realized anew,<\/p>\n
\n