The Gospel for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost is from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. These verses contain Jesus' Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and His explanation of it to His close disciples. While we prefer to be positive and emphasize the growth of goodness, this story reminds us that the spread of goodness is not always upward and onward. Even in good times, there are problems. As goodness is growing, there is also evil growing beside it. The church in this world is God's field, but all is not as it should be even in the church. God's spiritual enemy has scattered bad seed in the field.
By the parable of the tares or weeds, our Lord reminds us that life in the world, including life in the earthly church, is a mixture. Of course, there is a need for individual and community discipline. There are times when certain obvious sinners can be excluded from the church. Yet, although we may long for perfection, it is not attainable in this world. Until the final harvest, there will be weeds growing beside the good grain in God's field. There are bad things even when we are at our best. We should recognize that reality. Therefore, we should always seek divine grace in order to grow in goodness ourselves and encourage its growth around us.
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