16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

1st Reading                Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19

Psalm                            86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16a (R. 5a)

R:// "O Lord, you are good and forgiving"

2nd Reading              Romans 8: 26-27

Gospel                         Matthew 13: 24-43

JUST GIVE TIME SOME TIME

Friends, Peace and Goodness! We arrive at the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) with our first reading from Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19 and the Gospel passage from Matthew 13:24-43, a _lectio continua_, at least from the liturgical shelving of readings in these times. 

Let us say a few words about the two readings, especially. The first reading is from Wisdom and that sends us into a new era. The book of Wisdom was written close to the end of the first century BC. It was written in the Greek language probably in Alexandria in Egypt, precisely to diasporadic Jews during the heights of Hellenism. Hellenism seeks to make the world more Greek in every aspect, particularly in philosophy, art, culture, and religion. What it means is that Jews in the diaspora will face challenges and crises of faith in their interactions with Greek religion. They will begin to get attuned and accustomed to the actions and patterns of the Greek gods. On a more striking note, Greek gods detest what is called "hybris".

Hybris (ὕβρις) is an attitude of excessive pride, arrogance, insolence, or a violation of proper boundaries. The fundamental problem of hybris was a distorted understanding of one's place in the cosmos. In simple terms, hybris resides in human beings crossing the boundary between humanity and divinity. Greek gods do not tolerate that. These gods respond with nemesis (νέμεσις), punishment that restores the proper order. This is the system of reward and punishment in human relationships with the divine in Greek religion and philosophy. Because of that Greek influence, such system was expected of God who is also to be seen as punishing every hybric act and individual. Against this backdrop, the first reading, having an Exodus overtone, challenges and counters the retributive nature attributed to God from Greek philosophy and religion, and rather speaks of a different nature and name of God, thus MERCY. While the Greek gods demonstrate power through swift retaliation, punishing every act that distorts harmony, the God of Israel shows power through patient restraint, which the author calls LENIENCY. It is as if the author wants the audience to understand a basic point thus, Do not measure the God of Israel by the standards of the Greek gods. His greatness is not seen in how quickly He punishes, but in how patiently He waits for repentance. Wisdom 12 has the Egyptians and Canaanites in the background, with the author showing how God gave the Egyptians and Canaanites moments to change. How did the text show God's patience? 

I suggest that there are three dimensions when we study the text carefully. The text shows us who God is, how He acts, and what He expects of His people.

The author opens by stating that "There is no god other than you who cares for everything, to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly" (Wis.12: 13). This line alone asserts the oneness of God against the polytheistic nature of Greek religion. This is a language from Exodus 20: 2, "...you shall not have other gods besides me", and Deuteronomy 4: 35, "The Lord is God; there is no other besides him". In fact, that speaks about the famous Shema which every Jew is to internalise, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! (Deut. 6: 4). The author of Wisdom takes the Torah and re-presents it to Jews interacting with Greek culture, reminding them about the nature of the God of Israel. Even Isaiah, whom every Jew reveres, butresses this in recording of God that "I am the Lord, there is no other" (Isa. 45: 5). What is suggests also is that the Jews in the diaspora are not only reminded of God's nature. They are reminded that the Torah (the Law) and the Prophets expound that. Even if the Samaritan Jews, who do not uphold the Prophets and the prophetic texts, are not reminded, at least, the Torah, which they revere will serve them a reminder. The rest of the Jews who are not Samaritans will get a double reminder. There is actually no excuse for forgetting the nature of God in a foreign land.

The second issue we have to deal with is to point out how God acts. The author builds a beautiful point that "You govern us with great lenience" (Wis. 12: 18). Let us point out two Greek words. The first is the Greek word translated as GOVERN. The word is "Dioikeō". The root of this word gives us another interesting Greek word, OIKOS, which means house or household. It is from OIKOS that we have the English word "ECONOMY" (OIKOUMĒNĒ). The way God governs is described as how a household is carefully managed, with the manager or governor knowing precisely the life and attitude of each person within the household and how to attend to each one of them satisfactorily. In fact, God does so with great LENIENCE or FORBEARANCE, from the Greek word "PHEIDŌ", which could also mean moderation. What it means is that God bears with each person's life and character unimaginably. In fact, he manages them perfectly, giving an opportunity for each person to reconsider his or her path carefully. This ties in with the revelation of God's character in Exodus 34: 6 when He spoke to Moses saying "Exodus 34:6:

"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger...". The expression "slow to anger" is literally to be "long-tampered" or "to take a long time before becoming angry". In fact, the Hebrew expression describes it as having "long nostrils" since flared nostrils were associated with anger and someone who is "long of nostrils" takes a long time to become angry. This is something that Greek gods do not have. God deals gently with everyone. 

The third dimension is what He expects of His people. I think that should be Wisdom 12: 19, and I want to propose that the first dimension, the unity of God, and the second, the leniency of God, are expected in the third. The third dimension is that "By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men, and you have given your sons the good hope that after sin you will grant repentance" (Wis. 12: 19). This is the language of EXAMPLE. The author gives a kind of PEDAGOGY. Because God is patient enough to the point that his patience is unimaginable, the Jew in the diaspora, who has a challenging contact with a foreign culture, religion, and philosophy, should be able to translate that nature of the God is Israel in his dealing with his fellows. God's Patience should make us Patient with others, even if being Patient will cost us the weight of it. We have the moral obligation to bear with others and give them time. 

I think that leads us into the Gospel passage, from Matthew 13: 24-43, particularly with the Parable of the Weeds among Wheat. Matthew tells a parable of an enemy who came while men were sleeping to deliberately sow WEEDS in a farm of WHEAT. 

We need to quickly connect the dots. Matthew calls the owner of the farm the HOUSEHOLDER. That brings us to what the author of the book of Wisdom sees how God acts, precisely as a HOUSEHOLDER. Though the Greek words may be different, they similarly and centrally deal with the management of a household. Why did the HOUSEHOLDER ask the Servants to wait until the time of harvest? That is a great display of agricultural mastery. The master actually knows how to farm. Why? The pointer lies in the nature of what the enemy sowed while men were sleeping.

The Greek word used for the WEEDS or DARNEL (in some translations) is ZIZANIA (ζιζάνια). This word is critical. The zizania is not a generic weed. It is a specific plant known in English as DARNEL, called in Hebrew ZONIN. Darnel is a rye-grass that grows as a common pest in Palestinian grain fields, and it has one feature that makes it diabolically effective. The feature is that in its early stages of growth, it is virtually indistinguishable from wheat. The leaves look the same. The stalk looks the same. The colour is the same. It is only when the heads of grain form, thus when the wheat head plumps and the darnel head droops, that you can tell them apart. By that point, the roots of both plants have become so intertwined in the soil that pulling the darnel would inevitably uproot the wheat as well. What it means is that while the weeds are tempting the master to command work on the farm immediately, the farmer is being agriculturally strategic in dealing with evil on the farm. The attitude the farmer uses is PATIENCE, the same as what God uses to deal with wrong and wrongdoers. 

The point is not to allow the Weeds some time to repent. The point is to save the Wheat from the results of impatience. That is how the nature of God plays out. Despite this, the time of harvest is the time of Justice. Despite Marcy and Patience, there is a moment of divine justice which is God's harvest. 

Pax et Bonum