Cockle in the Church-25th Sunday After the Pentecost (2024 -11 - 10)

The kingdom of heaven of which the Savior speaks here is his Church militant, the society of those who believe in him. 

Nevertheless, this field, which he has cultivated with such care, is strewn with tares (cockle); heresies have crept in, scandals are multiplying: should we therefore doubt the foresight of him who knows everything, and without whose permission nothing happens? Far be it from us. The Master himself teaches us that this is how it must be. Man has been given the freedom of good and evil; it's up to him to use it, and it's up to God to turn everything to His glory.

Let heresy then grow like a cursed plant, we know that the day will come when it will be uprooted; more than once it will even be seen drying on its own stem, awaiting the day when it must be uprooted and thrown into the fire. Where today are the heresies that desolated the Church in its first age? Where will they be a hundred years from now, those who, for the last three centuries, have caused so much harm under the fine name of reform? The same is true of the scandals that arise within the Church itself.

This chaff is a scourge, but we must be tested. The Father of the family does not want us to pull up this parasitic weed, for fear of harming the pure wheat. Why not? Because mixing the good with the bad is a useful exercise for the former, teaching them not to rely on man, but to rise higher. Why again? Because such is the Lord's mercy, that what is tares can sometimes, by divine grace, be transformed into wheat.

Let us therefore be patient; but, because the enemy only sows tares while the guardians of the field are asleep, let us pray for the shepherds, and ask their divine Head for that vigilance which is the first guarantee of the flock's salvation, and which is signified, as their first quality, by the name which the Church has imposed on them.

The readings show us two opposing pictures of the Church.      

In the Epistle, Saint Paul describes the ideal life of the Church: a community of saints, adorned with a crown of virtues. Charity reigns supreme, and in its procession we see the peace of Christ. 

The Gospel shows us the opposite picture. We still see a Christian community, but we notice human weaknesses, sins and even serious scandals, lukewarmness, indifference and jealousy on the part of Christians. It pains us, but the Savior helps us to solve the riddle of evil in the Church and in the soul.

At harvest time, when the ungodly have fulfilled their mission to serve as instruments of purification for the righteous, when they have received their reward with the consolations of this world, and the sanctification of the elect is complete, then the angels of God will root out the tares, and the Church, without wrinkle or spot, will celebrate her eternal wedding with the divine and immaculate Bridegroom. 

My dear Brethren, let us deeply rejoice at the sweet thought -and reality- that we belong to the Church of Christ. Let us bear patiently with all the disorders present in the Church and let us be patient with one another. And let us sow faith, joy and perseverance in our journey to heaven. Amen.

fr. B. Williez