Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
In today’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the wheat and the cockle. Our Blessed Lord sows His good grain, that is to say, His word through the preaching of the Gospel, through the inspirations of His grace, and through any number of providential occurrences in and through which the devout soul can discover God’s presence. The enemy, on the other hand, comes along and sows his seed. He uses false teachers and every means at his disposal to counter the Gospel of Our Lord. The whole point of this passage is that we must never think there will be a golden age in this life in which there are no challenges to the truth. At every age, part of our struggle in the life of grace is to be confronted with error and vice so that we can reject and overcome them. This is why the Lord commands that the cockle not be uprooted until the end of time. The impious serve to put the just to the test so that they may grow in virtue and become greater saints, for without them, the just would probably remain very mediocre.
What is at stake? The conclusion of the Gospel makes that clear: Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the 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. In other words, in this life, we do not see the final consequences of our actions. That will become evident only in the life to come. In this passage, the image given is one of agriculture: wheat is stored in the barn, and the cockle is thrown into the fire. The Lord Himself has given us the precise interpretation of this passage: The field is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle, are the children of the wicked one. And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. Even as cockle thereforeis gathered up, and burnt with fire: so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Mt 13:38-43).
So then, we are going towards the eschaton, that is to say, the end of all things, and when that day comes, there will be a reckoning. Evil-doers sometimes escape justice in this life; they will not escape the inexorable divine justice. Good people oftentimes are scorned and mistreated; they will receive their everlasting reward. It is not without reason that the Lord compares our life in this world not only to a field but to a single season in the field. Life is short; eternity is at the door. Only a fool would live here below as if there were nothing else.
We should also note that the enemy does not sow overtly bad seed. Actually, when the cockle sprouts, it sprouts looks like wheat. This tells us that we cannot always see right away what’s wrong with what he proposes. Furthermore, he adapts his depraved thoughts to the one he is tempting. Some he tempts with one thing, some with another. He uses the same events to lead some out the right door and others out the left door. It doesn’t matter to him which door you go out, as long as you are out. Long ago, St Augustine commented: “It matters not whether you go to the right or to the left. You are making great strides, but off the path”. The path is Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ. If we want to be saved, we must remain within it.
In our day, especially in the last century, many have been led astray by an unhealthy thirst for novelties. How many novelties have we not seen? In the 1960’s and 1970’s anything new was good, it was the new way, it was a so-called new Pentecost. The fad has passed somewhat but still continues to lead many souls astray. In that same period, others became so shocked by what they saw around them that they left the Church in disgust. Others became fixated on details they considered to be part of the faith and went off to found their own church, forgetting that the true Church is not theirs but Jesus Christ’s.
We see the same thing happening today. The last ten years have been a kind of replay of the 70’s, with many feverishly seeking every possible way to come up with something new and many others slamming the door in disgust. It’s all signed: Satan. The Enemy has done this, as today’s Gospel tells us. Amidst such crises, it is essential to remain calm and cool-headed. It is equally necessary to take full advantage of the good seed that has been sown in our hearts, which produces a beautiful garden of flowers and fruits. Today’s epistle gives us a beautiful selection of these: Put ye on the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience; bear with one another and forgive one another… Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts…; be grateful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly: in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoeveryou do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him (Col 3:12-17).
In summary: faith in Jesus, prayer and praise, and the practice of charity and good works. Whenever we do any of these things, we allow the seed sown by the Son of God to germinate, take root and produce fruit in our souls, and we avoid the wiles of the enemy. Let’s get to work on our garden. Time is short; the season is far advanced.
