This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Jeremiah 7:1-11

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 ‘Stand at the gate of the Temple and there proclaim this message. Say, “Listen to the word of God, all you of Judah who come in by these gates to worship the Lord.

3 The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Amend your behaviour and your actions and I will let you stay in this place.

God's sanctuary....

4 Do not put your faith in delusive words, such as: This is God’s sanctuary, God’s sanctuary, God’s sanctuary!

5 But if you really amend your behaviour and your actions, if you really treat one another fairly,

6 if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan and the widow, if you do not shed innocent blood in this place and if you do not follow other gods, to your own ruin,

7 then I shall let you stay in this place, in the country I gave for ever to your ancestors of old.

8 Look, you are putting your faith in delusive, worthless words!

9 Steal, would you, murder, commit adultery, perjure yourselves, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods of whom you know nothing? –

10 and then come and stand before me in this Temple that bears my name, saying: Now we are safe to go on doing all these loathsome things!

11 Do you look on this Temple that bears my name as a den of bandits? I, at any rate, can see straight, the Lord declares.

Gospel, Matthew 13:24-30

24 He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off.

26 When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the darnel appeared as well.

27 The owner’s labourers went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?”

Wheat and darnel

28 He said to them, “Some enemy has done this.” And the labourers said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?”

29 But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.

30 Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”

In both passages there is an announcement of God’s patience.

Jeremiah says that if the people waken from their sense of false security conferred by the presence of God’s temple, and act with justice, the threatened loss of nationhood will not happen. The people are urged to trust God’s justice, rather delusive words holy places and ceremonies. God’s patience is space for repentance.

In Jesus’ parable God’s patience is at least partly out of care for the wheat, the good crop in the midst of weeds. They are inextricably bound together so any rooting out of one, may damage the other. The parable can be applied to human life in which the presence of good people prevents God from getting a bead on the evil. It’s the good ones amongst us who save our bacon. It can also be applied to the individual soul in which good and evil are present. God’s patience is time for the good to make inroads on the evil.