This message is taken from “Living with Christ”. Like the psalms, we often wonder, “O Lord, why do the wicked prosper?”

When injustice is rewarded by prosperity, we can begin to question God’s oversight of the world. Today’s Gospel gives two good reflections. First, we may not understand why someone sows weeds among the wheat, but we do experience the reality of the two growing together. Thus, the parable invites us to trust that God’s justice, despite what we see, will ultimately occur.

Meanwhile, there is something important about the wheat – good people – accepting the presence of the weeds and continuing to be faithful despite them. Secondly, do we not all have with us both wheat and weeds? Why do they grow together within us? And what will happen to our weeds? We ought not to judge others whom we consider “weed s,” while overlooking
our own faults.

The last words of the first reading gives us hope: “You gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.”