16th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Scriptures: Wis. 12:13,16-19; Ps. 85:5-6,9-10, 15-16; Rom. 8:26-27; Matt 13:24-43
St. Augustine of Hippo has said, “Patience is the companion of wisdom”. I realised it one day when I was travelling with my companions. We were on a trip to Gujrat for a regional meeting. We were five people and we boarded the train at Mumbai to Rajkot. A gentleman got into the train after a few stations and he went to our upper berth to sleep. The other members of the group were constantly coaxing me to ask that man to leave the berth. I ignored them by saying that once we are ready to sleep then we will disturb him. Let him sleep. After three to four hours of journey, that man came down. He happened to be a frequent traveller. We broke into a conversation. He originally hailed from Konkan. While talking to us about so many things, he told us that the train did not have pantry cart and the journey would be difficult since we did not carry any food. He volunteered to arrange meals for us at the station where he was supposed to get down. His friend was at the station with meals and water bottles. We were surprised when he refused to take any money from us. Once he got down from the train, we realized our patience had rewarded us or else we would have to travel hungry throughout that journey. Wisdom tells us that one moment of patience may ward off great disasters. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.
Today’s liturgy talks about patience. It teaches us that God is patient. We are still living because God is patiently dealing with us. His patience is seen as one of the greatest attributes in the Bible. It is one of the frequent themes in the Bible. While understanding the virtue of patience, it is presented in the Bible as forbearance or endurance. Forbearance means not to give way to anger even in a time of provocation. It is closely related to mercy and forgiveness. It is usually attributed to God and sometimes to man in the Bible. Endurance means one bears the trials of this life as a God’s will. It is closely related to hope and it is attributed to man only.
There are more than seventy references to patience in the Bible. The book of Exodus says, “He is called upon as a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” (Ex. 34:6). The same theme emerges in the book of Numbers (14:18) and the book of Wisdom (Wis. 11:24-12:1). We are told in the first reading which is taken from the book of Wisdom, there is no God who cares for everything. He governs with great leniency. He grants repentance. The Psalmist also praises God because He does not punish man harshly but is patient with us (Ps 77, 85, 102, 144). In today’s psalm, he says that the Lord is good and forgiving. He is God of mercy and compassion, slow to anger and abounding in love and truth (Ps. 85). The Old Testament which is full of imageries of God being jealous and revengeful, aptly points to the fact the God is patient and kind while dealing with man.
Jesus also displays God’s patient character in the parable of the weeds. Jesus gives eight parables one after another in the middle of the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 13). We already heard the parable of the sower last Sunday. We have distinctive characteristics in today’s Gospel. Sowing bad seed in someone’s field was a common feature of taking revenge in Palestine. The darnel (weed) seeds are poisonous when mixed with food. They caused giddiness and vomiting. They appeared like the wheat so it was difficult to distinguish the weed and the wheat. The surprise of the servants on discovering the darnel is quite natural; ordinary weeds are always expected to grow in a field, but darnel grows only if someone sows it. The master forbade the servant to go and weed out the field. He was concerned about the wheat that they might be uprooted. It means to say that the time was already over to weed out. The master surprised the servants with his reply that let it grow together until the time of harvesting. Jesus made his disciples understand the meaning of the parable. He told them that God patiently waits for the time of harvesting i.e. the time of judgement.
Why does God show patience to man? The answer is the second aspect of patience in the Bible i.e. endurance. God wants us to endure trials and tribulations of this world to do His will. Jesus, our master did it. He endured all the trials and sufferings in his life as His Father’s will. Jesus himself said those who hear the word of God with an open and responsive mind, hold fast to it with patient endurance and bear fruit. (last Sunday’s parable) We are called to show patience in our trials and suffering. Sts. Peter and Paul also had a similar message for us. St. Peter exhorted the early Christians to endure unjust suffering because it is of great value in the eyes of God (1 Pet. 2:19-20). St. Paul says through endurance they will enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:21).
The importance of patience is known to us all. It is said that patience prepares the way for the acquisition of all other virtues. Patience dispels any ill-feeling and discord. I enjoyed the fruit of patience during my train journey. It warded off disaster from my life. Patience also purifies the faith. It fosters hope. It leads to perfection. It helps to focus on the long term goal. It also helps to build relationships. Therefore, Adel Bestavros has rightly said, “Patience with others is love, patience with self is hope and patience with God is faith. Patience helps to better our physical and mental health. It brings peace to our lives. It makes us stronger than warriors. It is a companion of wisdom that guides our way. If this is the fruit of patience, then God wants us to inherit it. God saves many souls because He is patient. The Samaritan woman, the thief on the cross, St. Peter and St. Paul had made mistakes in their lives. They deserved punishment, not salvation but God’s patience gave them a second chance.
Taking a clue from St. Paul, we need to pray for patience. St. Paul says in the second reading when we are weak and we cannot choose words to pray properly, the Holy Spirit himself expresses our plea and comes to help us (Rom. 8:26-27). The world today is breeding impatience. We do not know how to grow in patience. Let us pray in the Holy Spirit that God may bless us with the fruit of patience (Gal. 5:22-23).
Prayer for patience (taken from the www.sharecatholic.com)
Lord! Teach me to be patient with life, with people, and with myself. I sometimes try to hurry too much and I push for answers before the time is right. Teach me to trust your sense of timing rather than my own and to surrender my will to your greater and wiser plan. Amen.
