[The Gospel told of of weeds growing in the wheat field]
- Listening to this gospel, I want to fight!
- When we are challenged, ask “Why do you believe that?” Tell us about it. Listening. Understanding others positions. Ask about their lives. Often there is some trauma in their life which has greatly affected them.
- Silence is the most powerful tool It is the best way to understand reality. You have something to propose to your brother & sister.
- Let them do what they want to do. Taking a stance. In India there are silent and non-violent movements. Two important things:
- Silence
- Prayer
- I lost my mum recently. It is very difficult to sit for 3 hours before the blessed sacrament. Join a larger group to fight for what you believe. Pray an act of contrition.
- All of us a spiritual people. Body and Spirit. We become aware as we grow. One spirit connects with another. How you smile and greet one another. It’s not that difficult. Conversation affects you.
- · The gospel is an invitation to discernment. In my youth “discernment” seemed too complicated, too Ignatian. Good and evil is in us and outside us. We are surrounded by the Health / Entertainment industries; war & peace; good & evil. Prayer is opening a window to God. The great theologian Bonhoffer when he was in prison struggled with things. The doors of this prison can only be opened from the outside. There are also inner prisons. We can’t resolve all the issues, eg the Gaza genocide. There is a feeling of helplessness. The power of evil is so strong. People want peace. Listening within to God is so beautiful. In Hinduism everyone can choose a personal God for themselves. Christianity is much more conceptualised. I must find my God I love. Know good and evil.
- · The readings are taken for the readings of the day. This gospel is a seduction to do nothing. Just leave it all to God? What do I do? When I am helpless – then leave it to God.
- · Sometimes it is not necessary. In hindsight it is important. There is irony in it. I should have asked God for something?
- · I am part of an interfaith group with 7 different religions (including Sikhs & Parsees). We discussed the issue of prayer. Is prayer asking God for something we want? But God should know what we want? For example, the rains are failing: Some pray for rain, some pray for no rain? Prayer is not about asking. Prayer is standing before the divine in truth. Ruhmi: “ Where ever you stand – hear the soul of that place.” My beingness of every moment. That is what prayer is for me.
- · My daughter, due to an experience at university, wanted nothing to do with the Church and she rejected it. Then during Covid she said: “Before dinner can we think of all who need our thoughts?” And so at every dinner we light a candle and think of those in any kind of trouble, friends, family, family pets and each other. Some silences, but not too many (lest our dinner gets cold). We say the offertory prayers. Then eat. It has become a family custom which connects us.
- · I have a big problem with this gospel. It blames the enemy for spreading the weeds. So we place responsibility on others. And there is a big promise: At the end of life there is someone waiting for us.
- · I am not from a farming background. In Versailles there are no fields of wheat. But I read that weeds in a wheat field make the wheat grow higher. Without problems or obstacles our growth would not take place? We read in other gospel passages that Jesus cleared out tables in the temple. He did not destroy the people who were trading there. It was the system that was wrong. So back to discernment. That’s where it is for me.
- · When I drive to work each day it is a time with the Lord. To deal with all my troubles and the traffic. Both mother and daughter are women of faith and prayer. All religions are on the same page.