Work in Progress

Reading 1: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Reading 2: Romans 8:26-27
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43


The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand – rejoice!

In today’s Gospel Jesus uses three parables to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like and how it is we are called to be to help bring about that kingdom.

In the first parable, about the weeds and the wheat, Jesus tells us that the world was created good – just like the good seed that was sowed in the field – everything in this world – each and every one of us – all those that came before us and all those that will come after as – were or will be created good.

But we know that this world isn’t always such a good place – we know that each of us aren’t always such good people – sometimes though we are the wheat – when we make the right choices – and we bear good fruit – but sometimes we are the weeds – when we make the wrong choices – when we sin and maybe cause others to fall into sin.

But we are – just like this world, just like this country, just like this church – each and every one of us are – “work in progress”. And the good news for us today is that God knows that, He realizes that we are work in progress, that we might not always make the right choices – and that it might take most of us our entire lifetimes just to get it right – but our Heavenly Father is patient, He is compassionate and He gives us our lifetimes and the graces we need to change our hearts – to repent – and He loves us so much that He gives us the freedom to make those choices for ourselves.

So we can’t let the bad things or the bad people of this world get us down – and we have to guard against judging or condemning others. Each of us has to do what we can to make this world a better place – you and I have been called to be something special – we have been called to be the wheat that turns weeds into wheat – we have been called to be Christ to those who don’t know Him – to those in darkness we have been called to be lights – now that might mean fixing things that are broken in our lives, or fixing things that are broken in our relationships – or reaching out to those that don’t even know Christ.

Some days we may be good, who knows we might go weeks or months or even years doing good – avoiding all serious sin and temptation - but then for some reason, when some temptation comes along – or when we face some anxiety or difficult time in our lives – we might fall again into serious sin.

Does that mean that we are bad people – no – does that mean that we are human – yes. When we fall into sin we have to remember that God has a plan – the He loves us no matter what we have done.

One thing I have come to believe is that sin – all sin – is the result of a lack of love. You could say that another way – God as we know is love – sin then is the result of a lack of God in our lives. If our hearts are full of God, if our hearts are full of love then there will be no room for sin in our lives.

When we sin, when we or those around us choose to do wrong – it is because of a lack of love – a lack of love from the people closest to us be that a family member, a friend or even a stranger. But you can’t force people to love you – and often times the love we are looking for just isn’t there – it is those times that we need to turn to God and not to sin – God will fill those holes in our lives – those gaps caused by rejection or indifference – He will fill those holes with His perfect and unconditional love.

And as Christians our goal then should be to become as Christ like as possible - because this world we live in – the short lifetimes we have been given – we will encounter good and with bad people – each of us – at different points in our lives may be that bad or a good person.

And it is the other two parables that Jesus gives us today that explain the importance and the difference that just one person with just a little bit of love in their hearts can do in this world – what a difference just one Christian can make. You have probably heard it said that all that it is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing – well each of us has been call to action.

We hear in the other parables that the affect of a little bit of yeast impacts the entire loaf of bread – just like a little act of kindness or love can change the heart of a person or a community or even an entire country. We also hear that the tiniest seed can become the largest of plants and home to many creatures. Each of this have witnessed these parables in our lifetimes in the lives of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul.

Each of us are called to do the same – maybe not on the same grand scale as Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul – but each of us in our own way in our communities, social circles and our families – are called to be wheat – to love.

No act of kindness goes unrewarded and no act of evil goes unpunished – we are called to be the yeast in our society – it is true that none of us are saints yet – but each of us are on our way to sainthood – each of us are work in progress – we are called to be the random act of kindness in our world – we are called to give of our gifts of time, talent and treasure to all who we meet. We are called to love and sacrifice. Then and only then will we know and enjoy the kingdom of heaven.

My brothers and sisters – the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand but the harvest is great are the workers are few – let each of us this day go out into the fields and do our parts to make this world a better place.