16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

First Reading 1Kings 3:5, 7-12             

Solomon is granted an understanding heart

Second Reading Romans 8:28-30       

God makes all things work for the good of those who love him

Gospel Matthew 13:44-52                     

Jesus describes the kingdom through images

A reflection on the readings for Sunday

It’s lucky for us that God is the only one who distinguishes the weeds from the wheat.

Think of your teachers at school. Would all of them completely agree on whether you should be characterised as a weed or as wheat? If so, what would they say? If not, how might they disagree? What would the ‘wheat voters’ say about you? What would the ‘weed voters’ say about you? Do you think any of the wheat voters might convince the others of your good qualities? Or do you think it would be more likely that the weed voters would be the convincing ones? Why?

Think of a person you might consider to be a weed. Can you see any positive characteristics in that person? If you concentrated on those positives for a whole month, do you think your opinion of this person might change? Why or why not?

Do you know anyone who is perfectly good, perfectly wonderful all the time? Do you know anyone who isn’t perfect but who could be called saintly? Describe why you see this person in this way. Would anyone disagree with your opinion? If so, why?