God is Patient and Merciful
He strikes, but His hands also heal (Job 5:18)
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” (Matt. 13:24-25)
By: Fr. Peter Jae Choi ©
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
God is unbelievably patient and merciful; it’s beyond our comprehension!
Even when God chastises, He never does it out of anger or with ill intent. When God disciplines us, He does so to correct us and heal us.
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. (Job 5:18)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus taught the crowd using the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. The weed Jesus is referring to in the gospel, is Darnel. It is also sometimes called false wheat, because they look so similar they are almost indistinguishable during the early stage of growth. Weeds are, firstly, invasive, because they interfere with the crop yield, by entwining with the root system of wheat.
Jesus warned them about how good and evil will coexist in the world until the end of time. However, lack of immediate judgment does not mean there will not be judgement and punishment at the end of time. It is sure to come!
But in the meantime, God is being patient in order to protect the righteous.
From Sinners to Saints
We all are a mixture of both good and bad, some saintly qualities but sinners.
I once read a story about two boys who were altar servers, a 9 year old boy named Francesco and a 10 year old boy named Annibale who were friends.
One day they were serving at Mass, and a fight broke out between them during Mass. Francesco got so angry he picked up a candle stick made out of brass and hit Annibale over the head. Annibale began to bleed.
Understandably, the priest kicked them kicked out of the Church. Fifty-five years later they remained best friends and they were reminiscing about their fight many years ago and laughed.
So who are these two boys?
Annibale became Pope Leo XII and Francesco succeeded him and became Pope Pius VIII.
I am sure if the people who attended the Mass, or their parish priest, on the day they fought in the church, were told that they would one day become Popes, they would not have believed you. They would have laughed at you.
God is patient and faithful. Unlike in the parable, where the wheat and the weed are two different species that cannot jump from being one to another, even terrible sinners can be transformed into a saint.
God is giving us the gift of time, opportunities to repent and change our way of life. I’ve seen people experiencing conversion and souls being saved in their last moment, while I was administering the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick or hearing their Confessions! Pope Francis re-quoted a wonderful description of what he heard the Church should be:
The Church is not a museum of saints but a hospital for sinners.
The Church is a place of healing and mercy, rather than a place of perfection.
St. Mark Ji Tianxiang
The Story of a Martyr
There is a story told of a man who was certainly not perfect. A drug addict who became a saint. Mark Ji Tianxiang was born in China in 1834. He was a devout Catholic, a loving husband and father, and a dedicated physician who treated the poor for free. When he was about 35 years old, Mark contracted a severe stomach ailment and treated himself with opium—a common medical practice at the time.
This dependency spiraled into a lifelong struggle with addiction. Addiction was not understood as a disease in 19th-century China.
Because his repeated use of the drug was viewed as a grave, unrepentant sin, his parish priest scolded him and forbade him from going to confession or receiving the Eucharist. Barred from the sacraments for 30 years, Mark felt deep shame, but he never stopped attending Mass, praying for deliverance, and relying on God’s mercy.
He did everything within his power to be cured from his addiction but he couldn’t. So when his efforts failed and there was no hope for him, He turned to God’s mercy and prayed that if he could not be cured of his addiction, he would be granted the grace to die a martyr for Christ. During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, anti- Christian militants arrested Mark Ji Tianxiang, along with his family and several other Christians.
They were given a choice to renounce their faith or face death. Mark refused to abandon Christ. As his family and companions were executed, he specifically chose to be the last to die so that he could comfort his loved ones as they faced death, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary until it was his turn.
Pope John Paul II canonized Mark Ji Tianxiang as one of the 120 Martyr Saints of China on October 1, 2000.
Even though St. Mark Tianxing struggled with addiction, through God’s grace, He was saved and even became a saint. Even when we find ourselves in hopeless situations, God can make transformation and salvation possible. He is a loving God. He created heaven for you, and he wants you there!
Remember, God sees you.
He knows all the struggles and sins you have difficulty with. He can save you, and He will save you, if you will run to Him!
The above piece was excerpted from a recent Homily by Fr. Peter Jae Choi
Go in Peace —and Glorify the Lord by your Life.
Fr. Peter Jae Choi is Catholic Priest in the Archdiocese of Toronto (ordained on May 13, 2006). He is currently serving as a Pastor of St. Andre Bessette Parish.
