Pray that the weeds become Saints!
Homily preached July 23, 2023
by Monsignor Michael Deering
If you’re as old as I am or older, you may remember the horrendous crime that took place up in Chicago, Illinois exactly 57 years ago this week. All you need to hear is the name Richard Speck and you’ll remember what happened.
On the evening of July 13th, 1966, the repeat criminal, Richard Speck, broke into a women’s dormitory on the southside of Chicago and locked 8 nurses in a room.
He held them for hours , methodically taking them out one by one to other rooms where he raped them and killed them by either stabbing or strangulation.
The community and the country were horrified.
Eight student nurses were raped and murdered by one man in one night!
It was so awful.
Within 4 days, the Police had Speck in custody.
And I remember hearing Mr. Matusek, the Father of one of the nurses, telling reporters, “Just give me 5 minutes alone with this guy … that’s all I’ll need.”
Speck was 6 feet tall, but Mr. Matusek was a big burly man, who was filled with hurt for his Daughter and he would have broken Speck to pieces if he could have gotten his hands on him.
Speck’s fingerprints were found on the doorknobs, but the best evidence was that an eye-witness, a 9th Nurse who hid under a bed through that whole experience, came to court to walked right up to Speck and pointed and said, “This is the man.”
Speck was convicted of 8 murders and sentenced to die in the Electric Chair, and so had an automatic appeal, which dragged on for six years. In June of 1972, the Death Penalty was deemed unconstitutional and so the Illinois Supreme Court resentenced Speck to 50 years for each of the 8 murders or 400 years in prison.
19 years later, Speck died of a heart attack in December of 1991, one day before his 50th birthday.
Do you think justice was served?
What do you think should have happened to Richard Speck.
I know that my family and the country as a whole wanted only one thing … to see him fry in the Electric Chair.
The weight of the crime was so heavy that death was the only possible sentence.
We just had to get rid of this guy … and the quicker the better!
That was our human response to the presence of that grave evil.
That’s the very response we heard in our Gospel today when the workers in the field recognized weeds coming up among the wheat and they ask the landowner,
“Do you want us to go and pull them up?”
In other words, they’re saying, “Do you want us to get rid of them?”
And it’s here that we listen to the Master reply, “No.”
How surprising! Weeds are bad. So why not get rid of them right away.
For the landowner to say no ... there must be a reason.
He must have a plan that includes something they couldn’t see at that time.
Which is why the Apostles asked Jesus in private to explain the parable to them.
So Jesus explains the Parable of the Harvest.
He says, “The good seed (are) the children of the kingdom.”
And, “The weeds are the children of the evil one.”
So Jesus acknowledges that both good and bad people are living in the world.
But even though the weeds, which are evil people, are clearly identified,
the Master, who is Jesus, says to leave them alone and He will tend to them later.
In saying this, Jesus reveals where final justice lies … it lies with Him!
Recall how the laborer asked, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?”
And the master replied, “No … at harvest time I will (tell the harvesters what to do).”
Where does ultimate justice lie? With God.
And what is to be found on the front-side of God’s justice?
Unbelievable restraint and longstanding patience!
From Jesus’ parable we see God as just … but also as incredibly patient!
And why is He so patient? What’s He waiting for?
God is allowing those who have gone astray to have every opportunity
to accept the grace He offers to be reconciled with Him.
God showed us this when He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world.
God showed us that He wants our salvation … not our condemnation.
Today’s Gospel provides strong support to the Catholic Church’s opposition
to both the Death Penalty and Euthanasia.
When we humans take control of ending human life ... we are interfering with ...
the patience of God ... that wants to allow people ...
every last opportunity to convert their hearts and be reconciled with Him.
When the workers see the weeds in the field, they ask,
“Do you want us to go and pull them up?”
That’s like us seeing the murderer on Death Row and asking,
“Do you want us to throw the switch and fry him in the electric chair?
Or it’s like seeing someone lying in the hospital suffering in pain and asking,
“Do you want us to pull the plug and take him out of his pain?
God says, “No … leave them alone. I will call for them in my time.”
You see ... God’s patience is way beyond our patience.
This message comes through in our First reading from the Book of Wisdom where the author writes, “Though you are the master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us. You gave your children good ground for hope, that you would permit repentance for their sins.”
What a God we have … one who waits for us to repent of our sins.
Treasure the words we just prayed in Psalm 86:
“Lord, You are good & forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.”
These are not our words of wishful thinking; they are God’s very own words.
And He’s telling us that He is
indeed forgiving ....and abounding in all kindness ... whenever we turn to Him.
Now, we know that the devil has planted many weeds in our world today …
Sin is everywhere!
Perhaps you know someone in your family or circle of friends who has stopped going to Church or has fallen into a sinful lifestyle such as one involving:
Fornication, Adultery, Active Homosexuality, Pornography, Drugs, Alcohol, Spouse Abuse, etc.
What should you do?
Should you just go and get rid of them?
Or, should we just give up on them?
It’s very possible that you’ve been trying for a long time to get someone to straighten out and turn away from sin. And it’s possible that you’ve reached the point where you’re tempted to say, “Enough; I’ve had it with you, …
I’ve told you several times what you need to do and you haven’t listened, so forget it; I give up and I want nothing else to do with you!”
You may be tempted to do that … but we simply can’t do that!
Even if we’ve prayed for them and poured out our heart to them and begged them
to do the right thing, we can never get to the point where we give up on them.
If they’re still alive ... there’s still time for their conversion.
Yes, The Lord desires that all people be reconciled with Him ...
and we can play a part in this process by praying for the conversion of sinners.
There’s an untold number of conversions that have taken place …
in homes, in hospitals, in prisons all over the world. That’s the purpose of Kairos Group of Catholic men who go into the Prisons and spread a message of hope.
To put a murderer behind bars where they can’t hurt others is a necessary step.
One which gives him or her ... the chance to repent and be reconciled with God.
Sadly, I don’t think that was the case for Richard Speck. Interviews with him a few years before he died showed him to still be arrogant and unrepentant.
To think he had 25 years to repent! Did he? We don’t know.
In our Gospel, the master allows the weeds to grow among the wheat.
And sadly, we see there are many weeds growing among us today.
What’s important to realize is that weeds in the field do not destroy wheat;
they only make it more difficult for the wheat to grow to maturity.
And that’s often the case with human beings.
Bad people often don’t destroy us. But they do make it more difficult for us to grow.
But here’s a more important point! A weed by its nature cannot change and become wheat; but a sinner, by the grace of God,, can change and become a Saint!
A Weed can’t become Wheat ... but a Sinner can become a Saint!
This is the reason for the patience of the landowner in allowing the weeds to grow until harvest time…it’s to allow time for the infinite mercy of God to change them.
God gives us every chance and every help to repent of our sins and be converted.
No one will be excluded from Heaven for sins committed, only for sins unrepented!
The key is conversion … repenting and coming back to God.
And that’s why God patiently allows “the evil” to grow among “the good”.
He’s giving them the time & opportunity to change their hearts from evil to good.
Jesus calls us to be like Him and be patient with the weeds who are present in the world. While we can never approve of their evil ways, we still must look on them as God does, with compassion and love, and we must do all in our power to guide them back onto the road to Heaven. This involves keeping them in our prayers.
If you need a model for persistence in prayer, you’ll find a good one in St. Monica. St. Monica, who lived in the mid-300’s, led an exemplary life but was challenged by two major weeds. Her husband was a pagan who harshly criticized her Catholic faith and entered into fits of rage when she practiced her faith. Plus her son, Augustine, embraced heretical teachings and lustful living, even fathering a son out of wedlock. But St. Monica never ceased praying for their conversion.
For 33 years, Monica stormed heaven with her prayers
and begged for the grace for these two to be saved.
The result was that both her husband and her son were converted …
her husband was baptized on his deathbed and became a Catholic, and
her son was baptized at the age of 33, ardently lived & defended his Catholic faith. Incidentally, we know her son today by the name St. Augustine, because he went on to become a Bishop of the Church in North Africa and a great defender of the Catholic faith against the errors of the Pelagian heresy.
And because of his voluminous writings on Catholic theology, St. Augustine is revered today as one of the 4 original Doctors of the Catholic Church.
Imagine that … a Weed turning into a Saint and a Doctor of the Church!
When we’re tempted to give up on wayward souls, we need to think of St. Monica
who patiently prayed for 33 years before her Husband and Son turned from living in darkness to living in the light.
Let’s strive to emulate the patience of God in the way we relate to others.
Let’s pray that we remain strong even though we’re surrounded by many weeds.
And let’s never stop praying that the many Weeds in the world … become Saints!
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