“God is in Full Control” - 16th Sunday OT (A) – 7.23.23
“God is in Full Control”
By: Fr. David Schmidt
St. Mark the Evangelist Parish - Holy Sepulcher Church - Butler, PA
Mass Readings - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072323.cfm
In the Gospel today we hear the parable of the weeds and the wheat where the evil one sows weeds all through the wheat. Then, when the servants ask the Master about pulling up the weeds the Master tells them ‘No’ because if the weeds are pulled up then there’s a chance that the wheat will be pulled up along with them. So the Master tells the servants to allow weeds and the wheat to grow together until harvest time, where He’ll first collect the weeds throwing them into the fire, and then He will gather the wheat into the barn.
What we see in this parable is the great mystery of why God allows evil to grow alongside the good.
I think a good illustration of this is seen in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” which is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings. In the beginning of the book, Tolkien depicts how the universe, in which the Lord of the Rings exists, came to be.
In “The Silmarillion” the character named Ilúvatar, who is the God figure, creates these creatures called the “Ainur” who can be compared to the angels. Ilúvatar had the Ainur sing themes of music before Him, and when the Ainur sang this music in harmony, it brought about great beauty.
However, Melkor, who was given the greatest gifts among the Ainur, and can be seen as the satan figure, decided to “interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar.” Melkor did this because he wanted “to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself.”
Melkor kept disrupting the Ainur’s singing of Ilúvatar’s music with his own loud and vain melody, but each time, Ilúvatar adjusted the music, so that something even more beautiful emerged.
Ilúvatar did this to show Melkor and all the Ainur, that He is the all-powerful one, and that He would use what Melkor tried to sing, so as to show that there is no music that is played that does not have its source in Ilúvatar, Himself. Ilúvatar wanted to show Melkor that He would use Melkor as an instrument of His to bring about something far more wonderful than what Melkor himself could have imagined.
Again, this provides a good illustration of what the devil has tried to do to destroy the plans of God, but by the mystery of God, He is bringing about something even more beautiful than anyone could have imagined.
We can’t remove the evil that is present in our world, because if we did, it would affect the beautiful music that God is playing that includes all things good and evil. He uses the evil that the devil has planted to bring about a greater good and to put the devil to shame.
The reason why the Lord doesn’t remove the weeds from the wheat is because He doesn’t want to risk uprooting the wheat, or the good, which far outweighs, the evil that is present.
The best example of this is the Cross. The weeds and evil of this world and of our sins led to the death of Jesus on the Cross. However, in the presence of this evil, there is an incredible good that has come forth from it, as it has revealed to us the depths of God’s love, and what He was willing to do for us.
We think of the line from the Exaltet at the Easter Vigil which says, “O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!”
It’s an amazing mystery as to why we call the sin of Adam necessary, but we see that it has led to God revealing the depths of His love in an unthinkable way.
The world we live in provides us the opportunity to share in the beauty and love of the Cross as well. Because we live in a world mixed with weeds and wheat, we have the opportunity to express a love that reflects the love of the Cross, and to help bring about this more beautiful melody.
We can think about the beauty that is seen in someone who offers their suffering for the world or for those in their lives.
The beauty of the sacrificial love of a parent for their children. The willingness to deny oneself for the good of the other.
The beauty that emerges when someone is willing to forgive.
The beauty that emerges when people who, in the face of persecution, are willing to persevere in their faith and love of God, even to the point of death.
These are just a few examples of the greater good and beauty that emerges in a world where the weeds grow with the wheat. If the weeds are removed before the allotted time, then we lose this greater goodness and beauty.
I think the biggest point to take from all of this is that God is in complete control of everything that happens. There is no evil that happens that God does not permit, and God doesn’t permit any evil to happen without His intention to bring about a greater good from it.
God permits the terrible singing of the devil, but God adjusts the music, so as to bring about an even more beautiful melody.
God has plans to separate the weeds from the wheat, but it is not time for that yet, so we must continue to be patient and persevere in faith and love knowing that the Kingdom of God grows slowly in this world overtime, beginning as a small mustard seed and eventually becoming a fully grown bush or tree, when God’s plans reach its fulfillment.
I think this is important to keep in mind especially in regard to persecution that the Church faces both within and outside the Church.
We live in times that are very evil for many reasons, and I think this has led people to feel like the evil that we face is so strong that it is overpowering and a threat to God’s kingdom. This causes us to take on a defensive posture in the face of evil, praying that we don’t get destroyed.
We forget that God is in charge, and that the evil that we face is nothing compared to the power of Jesus Christ. Any attack by the devil on the Church is like an annoying gnat flying in our face. The matchup between God and the devil is not an even matchup. Evil must be taken seriously as it can cause great damage, but in comparison to God, it is nothing.
As a Church, we are not on the defensive, we are on the offensive. In Matthew 16, Peter makes the profession of faith to Jesus saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” To which Jesus responds saying, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
The gates of hell don’t attack us because gates don’t attack. The gates of hell try to withhold the attack of the Church against it. We have the truth of Jesus Christ, and as long as we hold strongly to this truth, we have nothing to fear because it is with this truth that the gates of hell will be destroyed and evil will be eliminated.
We must remember that no matter what is going on in the Church or in the world, that God is in full-control. He is the one who allows the weeds to grow with the wheat. The weeds are not a threat to Him. But in the mystery of God’s providence, He allows the weeds to grow with the wheat, and He will use any wiles of satan against him, leading to satan’s ultimate demise at the end of time.
Until that final day comes, when evil is eliminated once and for all, we must hold strongly onto the truth of Jesus Christ, and not be afraid of anything that the devil is doing, knowing that God is all-powerful, and that He is in full control, and that we must confidently and boldly go out to all the world with the power of the truth of Jesus Christ on our side, so we can help bring about the greater good and beauty that God desires, and that He intended when He sang the universe into existence.
To end, I would like us all to join together in praying the prayer to St. Michael. Let us pray,
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
