Blessed Virgin Mary 

St. Sharbel Makhluf, priest

*** 1st Reading ***     

Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told the people

All the words of Yahweh and all his laws. The people replied with one voice: “Everything that Yahweh has said, we shall do.”  Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve raised stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to Yahweh.  And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar.

He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, “All that Yahweh said we shall do and obey.”  Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Here is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

 

Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

 

**** Gospel **** 

Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus told them another parable, “The kingdom of hea­ven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.

 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.   Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’

He answered them: ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him: ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them: ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.   Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.”

    

Gospel Reflection

There are those who oppose God’s plan here on earth. They duplicate the works of God only to derail it. They copy as much as possible God’s initiative but its end result is vastly different from God’s intention. It seeks to destroy rather than build. That is why when the sower sowed good seeds, the enemy did the same in the darkness of night so that no one could see it.

But the enemy bad seeds. The two seeds grow together and seemed to be the same. It is only when fruit-bearing comes that the differences between the two could be seen. And so, evil sometimes mix with the good. It subtly grows and wreak havoc but is seldom noticed until the end.

It takes a discerning heart to see its evil effect before it fully grows. Thus, we have to be vigilant. Once fullygrown and has taken hold of society. We have no choice but to live with it until judgment comes.