July 19, 2020 - 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Wis 12: 13-19; Rom 8:26-27; Mt 13:24-43)
The Book of Wisdom was probably written between 30 BC and AD 14, making it the latest work in the Old Testament. This part of the Book of Wisdom is sometimes called the “book of human folly,” where the author discusses our human waywardness. In some cases, God gives us successes so that we will be moved by gratitude to thank him for his gifts. In others, he weans us from our false sense of security by depriving us of those things that gave us that false security. Divine power is the source of divine justice. God displays his strength to those who deny it in order to frighten them into changing their ways. Though “master of might,” God is a sympathetic and lenient judge. At this point in time the ideal Jew is the just person. Wisdom adds that those who are just must also be “kind.” Psalm 86 speaks that God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity. Romans reminds us that the presence of God in our souls that we receive by Baptism is not an inert presence that we are aware of and can gaze at, but a dynamic presence, always at work in us. The Spirit that comes to dwell in our souls attends to us so closely that he aids to the extent of articulating our needs for us. The Spirit leaves nothing to chance. All three parables in Matthew focus on the concerns of disciples who live in the time between Jesus’ Ascension and his final coming. The sower and the seed, the mustard seed, and the yeast are stories/parables about faith and how it grows and develops and something else they have in common the theme of patience.