Lectio Divina – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Theme: “Weeds”
1. Lectio
Gospel: Matthew 13:24–43
> “…if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.”
The weeds in this parable are traditionally understood to be darnel, a poisonous plant that closely resembles wheat during its early growth. The master’s refusal to separate the wheat from the weeds is not indifference to evil but a lesson in patience. The Kingdom of God, in this age, contains saints and sinners alike. The final separation belongs to God alone. Until then, I am called to repentance, mercy, and hope rather than presumption.
Reflection:
Do I recognize that God created the world, writing into it an order and a dynamism that I have no right to ignore?
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2. Meditatio
Due to a recent substantial rain I have a lot of weeds to contend with at The Glenn.
No-till regenerative agriculture is a farming system that improves the land by not disturbing the soil. It uses livestock grazing and targeted mowing instead of plowing and chemicals. This builds healthy, sponge-like soil that naturally stores carbon, prevents erosion, and holds water better. When grazing isn’t enough or possible, mowing helps manage plant growth in both pastures and crop fields. Mowing tall weeds before they drop seeds prevents them from taking over the field.
Beyond The Glenn I also see many weeds in the Diocese of Amarillo’s Centennial celebration, seeded by what our Diocese itself has called the “serious mistake” of assigning John Salazar, a convicted child molester, to active ministry. According to Catholic theology, a serious sin destroys charity in the heart much as weeds can overwhelm a healthy field when they are allowed to reseed unchecked.
For years I have tried to pull those weeds. In doing so, I also realize that I have sometimes uprooted good wheat. Friendships have been strained. Doors have closed. Opportunities for ministry have disappeared. The Lord’s words today make me stop and ask whether I have confused my role with His.
Jesus never tells me to pretend the weeds are wheat. Neither does He tell me to abandon the field. Instead, He teaches me to work within God’s order. A regenerative farmer does not surrender to weeds. He manages them wisely. Sheep graze some of them. Mowing prevents others from spreading. Over time the soil itself becomes healthier and the desirable plants become stronger.
Perhaps that is how I am called to live this Diocesan Centennial. Rather than spending all my energy trying to pull every weed, perhaps I should devote more of my energy to cultivating healthy wheat—to strengthening faith, hope, mission, and communion. The weeds remain visible. They should not be forgotten or excused. Yet the field belongs to Christ, not to me, and He alone knows the perfect moment of harvest.
This week I want my Lectio Divinas to explore that possibility: allowing the wheat of our Diocesan Centennial to grow while honestly acknowledging the weeds of our serious mistake. Perhaps regenerative agriculture has been teaching me the Gospel all along.
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3. Oratio
Lord Jesus,
You are the true Lord of the harvest. Give me the wisdom to recognize weeds without becoming consumed by them. Deliver me from the pride of believing that I alone must purify Your field.
Teach me to cultivate what is good, to protect the vulnerable, to speak the truth with charity, and to trust Your perfect justice when my own judgment reaches its limits.
May Your Blessed Mother help me nurture the wheat of faith, hope, mission, and communion, even while I continue to grieve the weeds that wound Your Church.
Amen.
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4. Contemplatio
Human rights are inviolable because they flow from the inherent dignity God gives every human person—not from achievements, reputation, usefulness, or power.
As I contemplate the field before me, I realize that both wheat and weeds grow among human beings who possess an equal dignity before God. The weed is not the person; the weed is the sin, the injustice, the wound, the falsehood that obscures the image of God within us. If I forget that distinction, I risk treating people as problems to be removed rather than persons to be redeemed.
Regenerative farming has taught me that healthy soil gradually weakens weeds by strengthening what is good. Perhaps the Holy Spirit works much the same way. Instead of allowing bitterness to define my mission, I can devote myself to enriching the soil of the Church through prayer, truth, repentance, forgiveness, and patient witness. Justice still matters. Accountability still matters. Protecting the vulnerable still matters. Yet all of these must serve the restoration of God’s field rather than my desire to control it.
Today I ask for the grace to become more concerned with growing healthy wheat than with counting weeds, trusting that when the harvest finally comes, the Lord of the field will judge with perfect justice and gather every stalk of faithful wheat into His barn.
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
