25th Sunday after Pentecost – 5th after Epiphany transferred
Today’s holy Gospel speaks to us of the tares sown amidst the wheat. What are the tares that have been sown in the field of the Church? They are the heresies that corrupt the faith and the lives of the faithful. Throughout history there have been many. In our day there are two that have been ravaging the ecclesiastical landscape. In the early 1960’s we were told that the content of the faith could be entirely reformulated while remaining the same. After fifty years of doctrinal reformulation we were then told that doctrinal precision does not matter. If doctrine doesn’t matter, then nothing matters, for everything becomes negotiable.
Again in the early 1960’s we were told that moral theology needed to be revised. After fifty years of revision, we were the told that moral theology is not really of any consequence, because it is the individual conscience that dictates to God what it is capable of doing. And since God is nice, He is happy with what we decide!
Is it any surprise that we no longer know where to turn for truth or that there as many moral options as there are people? Is it any surprise that confusion reigns?
The tares have been sown, but the tares are not all; they are sown among the wheat. They do not replace it. That means that the truth is still discernible for souls of good will. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not prevent the light from shining. Souls of good will still know there is truth. They still know the moral law. They still know right from wrong.
The Lord allowed this situation to be. He wants the just to become perfect in the midst of a depraved world. There is nothing to be alarmed about. Such is there Christian life in every age.
One of the keys to making sure we do remain faithful in the midst of it all and that we do achieve perfection is to apply and live the apostle’s advice in today’s epistle. Pray and sing and live in fraternal charity, giving thanks to God at all times and never allowing the darkness of the enemy to discourage us. Discouragement is always from the Enemy, but we do not care about him and his lies. Keep your hearts lifted up. Live the truth, keep the commandments, avoid the confusion.
This time is ours to shine and to sing the divine praises like the three children in the fiery furnace, confident that God does not change, that truth is eternal, that His Law endures forever and that He will soon come to deliver us and gather us into the eternal barn, that is Heaven, while the unrepentant wicked, and all those who sow confusion, are sent to burn forever far from the God of Love.
