Gospel
The Gospel according to St. Matthew, xiii. 24-30.
“And Jesus proposed another parable to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep his enemy came and over-sowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the good man of the house, coming, said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence, then, hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.”
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate to-morrow on the Gospel of the day, which, under the parable of the tares mingled with the corn, shows us the mixture of the wicked with the good here below, and we shall see that this mixture marvellously serves: 1st, to the glory of God; 2d, to the greater good of men. We will then make the resolution: 1st, patiently and meekly to suffer all that may offend or displease us in our neighbor; 2d, never to be envious of the success of others. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of St. Augustine: “God leaves to the wicked the false goods of this world; He reserves for Himself alone the recompense of the good.”
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ giving us, under the parable of the tares and the corn, the most precious lessons; let us thank Him for such great goodness; let us beg Him to enable us fully to understand His divine teachings, and to give us grace to put them in practice.
First Point
God, in a marvellous Manner, derives Glory from the Mixture of the Wicked and the Good.
Nothing better shows the perfections of God. 1st. His patience. His commandments are despised, His name blasphemed, His truths denied, and He bears it all. He might revenge Himself but He does not; He sees all and He appears as though He did not; He considers everything and He is silent. His angels only await a word in order to mow down the tares and throw them into the fire: Shall we? they ask. No, He replies, leave them time to repent. Alas! there was a time when we ourselves were these bad tares, in the field of the Father of the family. If God had abandoned us to the mowers, who asked if they might tear us up, where should we be now? At least let us imitate, with regard to others, the patience of God towards us; let us learn to bear the faults and defects of our neighbor. 2d. This mixture makes the goodness of God shine forth, for not only does God bear with, but He heaps up blessings on the very men who outrage Him; making His sun to rise and shedding His rain upon the field of the sinner as well as on the field of the just; seeking them by sweet inspirations, calling them, pursuing them without ever being discouraged. 3d. This mixture also equally makes the power of divine grace to show forth, preserving as it does purity in souls in the midst of corruption, keeping virtue steadfast when all is tottering around; hearts burning with charity amidst general lukewarmness; as in gone-by days He kept Daniel in the den of lions, the children of Babylon in the furnace, and made living waters spring up in the midst of arid lands. 4th. Thou dost not shine less here, O Infinite Wisdom, who knowest so admirably how to draw good out of evil, and who makest the malice of the wicked serve for the sanctification of Thy elect. Without the wicked there would neither have been the zeal of the apostles nor of apostolic men; nor the triumphs of the martyrs, nor the courage of the confessors; nor the profound writings of the doctors, nor the solitudes of the anchorites; nor the heroism of charity suffering all and forgiving all; nor, finally, the death of the Son of God who has saved us. Glory then be to Thee, O my God, who makest even sin serve the sanctification of the elect and the execution of Thy designs of love and mercy!
Second Point
This Mixture of the Good and the Evil serves marvellously to the greater Good of Man.
Let us suppose the good and the wicked forming two separate societies; it would be an immense evil for the one and for the other. The wicked would lose the good example and the good counsels of the just; they would lose consolation in their troubles, solace in their trials; and living only in the midst of what was evil, they would daily become more and more perverted; it would be for them hell upon earth, without any prospect of repentance or conversion. On their side the just would lose the solidity and merit of their virtues, for the virtue which has nothing to suffer is mediocre and has but little merit; they would lose the honor of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world; they would lose one of the most striking proofs of the falsity of all the goods of this world, since God gives them to His enemies as being things of vile price, sometimes even as a chastisement to blind them, so that placing their happiness in these false enjoyments, they take no heed about their eternity, and go down with closed eyes to hell; they would lose, lastly, one of the motives which stimulate them most powerfully to the love and the service of God. For it is in seeing God offended that the just feel themselves to be impelled by a greater desire to love Him more in order to repair so great an evil; to serve Him more generously in order to compensate for the homage refused to Him by ungrateful men; to pray and do penance for sinners. “Oh!” exclaims St. Teresa, “that I could hold the hearts of men in my hand in order to inflame them all with holy love” and at this thought she burst forth into holy transports, zeal inflamed her, love consumed her. Let us here examine ourselves. Do we know how, like the saints, to derive spiritual profit from the sins of others? Do we know how to make use of them as of a good opportunity for enabling us to exercise patience, endurance, humility, meekness, and as a stimulant for growing in zeal for our sanctification and the salvation of our neighbor? Do we know how to take the evil which is said of us as a warning to animate us to do the contrary?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.