WHEAT AND WEEDS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time [A]  is, “Wheat and Weeds.”

There are three parables in today’s gospel.  Let me just look at the first of the 3 parables - that of the wheat and the weeds. [Cf. Matthew 13:24-43.]

That’s the one the disciples asked Jesus, “Please explain?”

THE STORY

I read a few times in commentaries about this gospel story of the wheat and the weeds that there was a story that floated around in Jesus’ time about someone planting in the night some weed seed in another farmer’s wheat field - to get back at him or for spite or what have you.  I have trouble picturing someone coming up with weed seeds, but that’s the story.

Well, as the weeds grew they looked like wheat - but then - it became evident that there were weeds. Someone ruined this farmer’s wheat  crop with weeds.

His farmhands asked, “Should we pull up the weeds?”

“No” -  the owner of the field said, “The roots are intertwined and you’ll ruin both. We’ll wait for harvest time and then we’ll separate the good from the bad. The bad will be burned.”

Guess who did the separating?

Answer: Women!

JESUS’ EXPLANATION

Commentators on the scriptures said that Jesus must have heard the story and adopted it for his preaching.

So today we heard the parable and we heard  the following explanation from Jesus.

The field is the whole world.  The Son of Man is the sower.  The Good Seed are the children of the kingdom.  The Weeds are the Children of the Evil One. The devil is the one who sows evil.  The harvest is the hereafter. The harvesters are the angels.  The bad - the weeds  - will be collected along with the good stuff - the wheat.  The bad goes into the fiery furnace. The good become good bread - for communion for all at the eternal banquet.

I think most people get that.

THE BRAIN AS A FIELD

It’s 2017. Few of us are farmers - but I’m sure some of you have gardens and lawns - and you deal with weeds.

How to make this parable have a practical message?

I think we can make this parable of Jesus more personal if we see our brain, our minds, our memory as a field.

Good and evil has been planted in this field called me.

We’ve all heard the TV commercial that says, “What’s in your wallet?”

Well, let me ask, “What’s in your brain? What’s in your mind? What’s in your memory?”

We speak the language we speak, because that’s the language we heard all around us, growing up.

We are the sum total of a lot of experiences - the parents, the grandparents, the schools, the teachers, the friends we had.

Question: are we more malleable, more ready to be formed, when we are younger?  Does our brain, our memory, have a saturation point? How much random access memory do we have?

BUY ME

TV commercials have the job to plant a lot of commercials in our brain so that when we walk down the aisle of the supermarket - we buy what we heard on TV, “Buy me!” When we drive up or down West Street we stop in Wendy’s instead of McDonald's or Burger King.

Our memories are memorizing lots of stuff as we go down the roads and aisles of life - or when we’re couch potatoes - watching TV and ads about potato chips.

When I’m standing up here babbling out a homily, I’m wondering where people are. Let’s be honest, most of us are elsewhere most of the time. I look at people and at times I want to go WAVE - WAVE - WAVE with my hand.  When we’re watching television isn’t the TV commercial trying to interrupt our thoughts - because we could be actually watching TV - or we're elsewhere. We’re into tomorrow or last week or wondering about a cookout or a parent who is getting Alzheimer’s.

After Mass or after  a Baptism or a wedding, moms and dads are often standing here with little kids in their arms. I often ask myself or parents, “What is your kid looking at?”

Parents often say, “Taking it all in. They don’t miss a trick.”

And it’s a good sign when older folks get nervous when kids are present and someone is making a fool of themselves - drinking or cursing or what have you.

We’ve all heard the message, “Garbage in; garbage out.”

DOCTOR WILDER PENFIELD

I read about Doctor Wilder Penfield - Neurosurgeon - way back in the 1970’s. In brain operations - trying to help people with epilepsy - and other brain problems - he kept people awake for some procedures and operations, so as to map the brain. Some of his findings are still used. Of course people were sedated and numbed etc.

The sensational news was that he was able to touch people’s memories and out came past history.  In time this discovery was toned down - and minimized and clarified - but there were at times by touching certain parts of a person's brain, they got in touch with memories. His teams also mapped out what part of the brain moves our left big toe or what have you.

What I got out of that was an “Uh oh!”

I thought: If it’s all in here, I better be careful what I let in here [Point to head.]

Our long term memory is amazing. At times - memories pop up about something that happened when we were kids - and we say, “What triggered that?”

For example this morning I was at the 7:30 Mass at St. John Neumann and I remembered something my Godmother said 50 years ago. Nan, my Godmother is long dead - but she said to me, “You have your dad’s smile and your dad was the perfect gentleman - all the ladies said that.”

Why did that hit me today? I don’t know - but I’ll give it some thought.

It was a good experience and a good memory - because my dad was absolutely quiet and I’ve often wondered in my old age about my dad.

The latest story about my dad went like this. My sister, Mary, is sorting out family papers. In a box, she found a newspaper clipping about my dad’s brother falling 4 floors in a building construction job in Pittsburgh.  My dad had to take a train from New York to Pittsburgh to get the body and take it to Portland, Maine for burial. Both brothers were single at the time. I would love to ask my dad what that was like for him. I thank God for my dad giving me the gift of life and his smile. I don’t want to lose that legacy. Yet I have so many questions and my dad’s black box, his flight recorder, his brain, his memory, is long gone.

AUDIO TAPE

In thinking about all this for this homily, I remember going for a 7 hour drive by myself. I began looking for some audio tapes.  I didn’t have time to shoot over to the library for talking books.

I'm driving along listening to a tape that I hadn’t listened to in 25 years. Surprise I’m hearing a story from a Jesuit priest that I thought I made up.

I shut the tape off and began listening to myself about what had just happened.

I began wondering if I was ever original?

I asked if I ever got caught for plagiarizing.  If I use someone else’s material I try to get that person credit.

I laughed.

I realized we’re all in this together.

Is anyone original?

I realized that we can listen to another when it comes to politics - and know what TV stations they use.

Just like trying to selling Nikes or hamburgers, people are trying to sell a political stance or value or what have you.

I began thinking, “Do people who put out ads or political commentary ask themselves, ‘Is this true?’”

Is anybody willing to be a whistle blower when it comes to promoting anything?

THE PAUSE - THE MORAL PAUSE

The best message and the message I would stress this morning would be, “The Moral Pause.”

Many times each day I can think before I speak - especially when it’s about another person.

I have to think before I preach - but I also have to think before I speak about the preacher.

I can’t fathom how anyone could come up with a virus and send it out to ruin other person’s computers  - but I know people do that. Does anyone ever say, “You can’t do that.” Just as did the guy who planted the weeds have another with him in the night? If yes, did that person say, “Why are you doing this?”

In the meanwhile I can say things about another that ruins them - planting weeds into the coffee break crowd….

CONCLUSION

Seeing words as seeds - wheat or weed - compliments or curse - truth or falsehood - secrets or gossip - can make this gospel story real today - even if we know nothing about farming. Amen.