Sowing the best seeds

All of our Scripture readings for this week are rich in imagery that describes the mercy of God. What better seeds to sow than mercy, forgiveness, understanding and love to grow in our own hearts and then be shared with others. Our first reading from the Book of Wisdom sets the context for the Gospel reading by announcing that God judges with mercy and permits repentance for our sins.

We pray in Psalm 86: “Lord; you are good and forgiving.” How sad it is that excess usually gets in the way of success. Yet we have never had a time when there was too much mercy shown person to person! Imagine a time when forgiveness and love truly reigns! Instead of giving a mass schedule on the phone or the bulletin a church might just state: Come on in! For mercy and love is sown here all the time!

The weeds sown in the Gospel today are a species of wild wheat, sometimes known as “false wheat.” The problem is the weed seeds are so close and the crops are very difficult to distinguish. It is only at harvest time that the farmer can distinguish the real from the false!

Jesus is saying that good and bad are mixed together in this world, and indeed, mixed together in each one of us. The good seeds and the false seeds often grow at the same pace. Occasionally though one does get ahead of the other. Let’s hope that in you and me it is the good seed and not the false wheat that is growing this season.

It is not the big things that separate and divide us as much as the small, little idiosyncrasies, bad habits and selfish acts that keep mercy and love from growing taller in the garden of life!

As I look back or forward, am I willing to see the barren or weedy areas of life that need work? I need to weed myself and make sure the good seeds get the best soil, fertilizer and nutrients to grow and produce the best harvest.

A daily quiet time in the evening to examine our conscience will help us grow a better garden of mercy and love. It is also a good time to do a little weeding. To realize that God is in the present; God is with me here and now and God is in the past, throughout the day that I have been reviewing and God will be with me in the future. Hope is the key to the Examination of Conscience and the trust that a positive spirit and the seeds of mercy, forgiveness and love will grow in me and in you!

A woman found a lamp and as she examined it out popped a genie.

She asked him, “Do I get three wishes?”

He responded, “Nope, I’m a one–wish genie. What will it be?”

She pulled out a map and said, “I want these countries to stop fighting so we can have world peace, love and mercy.”

The genie replied, “They’ve been fighting for centuries and I’m not that good a genie. What else do you desire?”

The woman replied, “Well, I’d take a good man with a good conscience, loves kids, is merciful to strangers and the poor and is rich and likes to cook and clean.”

The genie responded with a sigh, “Let me see that map again.”

May we take these days of July and sow better seeds to bring forth the best harvest of mercy, love, peace and forgiveness and not make these qualities just part of hope and desires in the Garden of Life!