. There have been many times in my life when I feel like the mistakes and sins in my life are ME. I remember one particular time during Confession, the priest made me aware that I was awake only 2/3 of my life, so 1/3 was faultless. Of that 2/3, almost half was spent working, time was spent driving, eating, parenting, being a husband and doing all the other normal activities. If you subtract the good things I was involved in, etc., a very small portion of ME was involved in this stuff I was confessing. Why was I so focused on just that and so down on myself? Focus on increasing the good, and the bad will disappear.
. Our readings today are. WIS 12:13,16–19, ROM 8:26–27, and MT 13:24–43. The 1st is about only God having the authority to judge. The 2nd is about the Holy Spirit coming to our aid in weakness. The Gospel is 3 parables, The Weeds in the Wheat, The Mustard Seed, and The Leaven and the Dough. The focus in all 3 should be on growth, spread and vitality of the Kingdom of God!
. My garden has rich soil which purpose is to grow vegetables. Yes, often weeds pop up, but if all I do is work on pulling weeds and not taking care of the vegetable plants, my garden produces dismally. Mulching, harrowing, staking, suckering, fertilizing and watering, are all more important to my vegetables than just weeding.
In our lives, the nurturing of good habits and virtues are way more important than tearing ourselves down over the bad we do. It is a reality of existence that Good (God) overcomes Bad (sin). Jesus conquered sin and death already, for all time. While we battle sin in our lives and around us in the world, it is important to know that in the end, God Reigns! When some large weed (or sin) threatens my plants (soul), yes, I need to uproot it, but it shouldn’t consume me to the point that I forget the goodness I’m growing. As I sit here this morning and think and pray, my garden continues giving me ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and blooming flowers, in spite of what small percentage of weeds are sneaking by. Our hearts and souls are gardens for love, charity, compassion, understanding and peace… nurture that and the rest will fade into obscurity. Continually ask for help through and from the Holy Spirit and let God be the judge when your life is done. If we continually judge ourselves, we get too weary to do the work of gardening our souls for good growth. Peace and All Good, my friends!
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