Wheat and Weeds

Welcome to this week' blog on the wheat and the weeds! In the Gospel this week, Jesus tells the parable of the good sower that plants good seed, while behind his back the evil one plants weeds to try and ruin the crop. When the good sower is aware of the weeds he lets them grow with the wheat only to be separated in the end.This sounds ominous but it really gives me comfort. Sometimes it is frustrating when we see evil things happening in the world. What gives me peace and should give you peace is that GOD sees it all. God knows the truth! We should do our best to grow in faith, hope and love. We should do our best to not be distracted by the weeds and keep our focus on God who is loving, merciful and just.

Here is a musical reflection on this parable... "Wheat and Tares" by the Wind Talkers.  Let the lyrics resonate in our hearts.

Let us Pray,
Prayer Lord of the Harvest, be with us now as we pray. May we will sow good seed by the goodness of our lives and look forward to a bountiful harvest. • For the eyes of faith to see both goodness and evil in the world. Lord, open our eyes. • For prayerful discernment in difficult circumstances. Lord, sensitize our minds. • For a focused commitment to your Word. Lord, center our hearts. • For patience and mercy as we trust in a future we cannot see. Lord, we surrender our lives. With these prayers we seek the kingdom of heaven. We make them with confidence in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Additional thoughts Ten ways...to ‘tend the field’ within each of us:
1. Be thankful for God’s blessings. Keep a gratitude journal.
2. Develop small, daily, life giving habits.
3. Ponder a little bit of Scripture each day.
4. Stay close to the sacramental life of the Church.
5. Don’t feed your mind junk food. Be discerning about what you read, view.
6. Contribute to the mission of the Church. Put your shoulder to the plough.
7. Seek guidance from a wise, spiritually mature mentor.
8. Stay focused on persons not things; on Jesus, not religious ideology.
9. “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Bringing children into the world, and raising them according to God’s teachings of love is a profound expression of gospel fecundity.
10. Over to you... from your experience, add a tenth point.

"Weeds among the wheat”-reflection
The biblical image of the ‘weeds among the wheat’ (Mt 13:24-30) is used repeatedly by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium (‘Joy of the Gospel’). Read the passage in Matthew’s Gospel (see p.3), followed by these paragraphs from Evangelii Gaudium: “Let us believe the Gospel when it tells us that the kingdom of God is already present in this world and is growing, here and there, and in different ways: like the small seed which grows into a great tree... and like the good seed that grows amid the weeds...and can always pleasantly surprise us.” (EG, 278) “Evangelization consists mostly of patience... Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also bears fruit. An evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or incomplete these may appear.” (EG, 24) “The joy of the Gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything (cf. Jn 16:22). The evils of our world – and those of the Church – must not be excuses for diminishing our commitment and our fervour. Let us look upon them as challenges which can help us to grow... Our faith is challenged to discern how...wheat can grow in the midst of weeds.” (EG, 84)

-the above prayers and reflections came from: The Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium © 2013 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Australian edition published by ST PAULS PUBLICATIONS. Scripture: New Revised Standard Version. This leaflet © 2014 MissionServices,Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Broken Bay. www.godsmissionjoyofthegospel.dbbcso.org

For Children K- 3rd grade.... and Object lesson and craft!
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 For Grades 4-6

​http://resources.experiencemission.org/KidsClub/2017/15-Wheat-and-Weeds.pdf


For Pre-Teens:
​https://www.biblewise.com/kids/images/fun/wheat-and-tares.pdf

For Teens:  Something to think about while living in a world full of wheat and weeds (good and evil)... finding GOOD friends helps you stay true to your true identity as a child of GOD. Sometimes we all can get mixed up along the way.Having friends that look out for your best interest will help you grow to be the best version of yourself.

For all of us... making decisions can be tricky in a world full of weeds sometimes.
Fr. Mike Schmitz gives us some great advice on making decisions.