Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
How blessed are we? Do I take time to consider that every day? Do I take adequate time to consider it at all? We’ll get back to those soon, but first, let go and let God for a second. Each day can become a busy one quicker than we’d like to admit, and each busy moment can pile on worry upon worry that the Lord has not willed for us. He has allowed us to grow in these challenges which we navigate daily, and he certainly hopes to see us grow! Any good father knows that you must provide your children the agency and ability to grow in their capabilities. And whether explicitly or implicitly, it is generally understood that this agency comes with the possibility of failure. And the more a father trusts his children, the more agency he provides them, for ultimately a father’s mission is to form his children for the life ahead of them. This love of the father for his children and his desire to see them grow is exemplified in our gospel readings today!
In our first reading, we see the power and authority by which the father we have characterized earlier is known. He is a just and forgiving father, one who has the strength and capability to do all, and yet one who shows restraint. And while you father “are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us”. For a father such as this understands that all he desires of his children is not forced and all-dictated to them, but patiently expressed. Just as a good father does not yank on a child’s handlebars and drag them down a hill when teaching their kid how to ride a bike, neither does our father in any aspect of our earthly life. Even when we disobey his commands to keep us steady on the bike, he offers us a helping hand when we fall and guides us back to the correct path. For the foundation that a good father lays down for his children is hope, a hope that even when left to their own devices, the sons and daughters of the father may not stay bruised and battered on the ground, but instead get up and try again.
Indeed, the father loves his children so much that he allows them the agency to choose a life separate from him. Even as the sin of this world and the temptations of the evil one crowd us in this world, our father is present. He has promised that the wickedness that grows alongside us is not something that should dishearten us. In fact, we have assurance from the father’s only begotten son that the father has told his harvesters to “first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn”. If we trust wholeheartedly in this, then we may find joy in knowing that even the brokenness and sin of this world cannot truly separate us from our father’s great love. Just as when we leave this world and leave all bodily possessions behind us, so too can we know that we must leave behind all of our ambitions, all of our worldly passions, and all other idols. We belong to our father and yet our father will not forcefully claim us, we are made in his image and yet we can choose to efface that from our minds. We can choose an eternity together with him, and to do so we must decrease so that he may increase. In this manner, we grow as our father wishes us to grow, upright and desired like the wheat in the parable. If we choose to worship ourselves however, we may find ourselves choosing to follow our sins into our fiery passions instead.
And so this leads me to consider my life in all that I can comprehend it currently, in all that I have done and all that I have failed to do. How blessed am I that my father is merciful for every day that I turn away from him, and how blessed am I that he forgives my trespasses. How blessed am I that he gives me my daily bread, and nourishes me with the same wheat that he has sown all those years ago. And how blessed am I that I have another opportunity to consider this tonight as I did yesterday and hopefully tomorrow as well. All glory to God!