Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BOAKYE YEBOAH

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF KUMASI, GHANA.

UPROOT THEM NOW?

Come to think of it, is it normal for one to get along better with people who are similar to them? To some extent one can say it is because people typically like to associate with their own kind. For example, good people like associating with other good people. Most parents will advise their kids not to mingle with their peers who have bad tendencies because good morals can be corrupted by bad influences. This is standard parenting and on any ordinary day, it is common practice. Other people also like to associate with people of their own ethnic group, continent, or nationality. These tendencies are fine as long as it does not promote any hate agenda towards another person of a different group.

But this normal standard of living may not be ideal within the Christian setting. To better understand, Jesus in today’s gospel passage employed a parable to bring home the ideal Christian practice.

For the second week in a row, our Lord employs an agricultural practice to teach us an important Christian lesson. Those of us who are familiar with standard farming, whether on a large-scale basis or with an ordinary backyard garden, know that weeding around plants and pruning them are among the best farming practices. If seeds begin to germinate and the farmer does not weed around them, he/she can forget about good yields at harvest time.

Based on the story Jesus told, the farmer’s workers gave standard farming advice to the farm owner on the weeds that were planted by the farmer’s enemies in his farm. But Jesus, the extraordinary farmer, advised against their supposed good advice. Jesus’ directive to them came with the notion of salvation for all. For Jesus, humans are like plants that our Heavenly Father has planted in the world and the devil has planted bad plants among these good ones. It may be standard practice for us to tell God to uproot the bad people from the world so that we may live in peace and tranquility, but unfortunately, Jesus says that his Father does not pass premature judgement on anybody who is living on the face of the earth.

We should try our best to eradicate what I call “hatred spirituality.” Some people in their prayers bring their enemies and competitors for God to punish them. They use all kinds of Psalms to pursue this agenda of theirs but I think this is not Christian spirituality. It may be true that examples of this kind can be found in the Old Testament literature but that does not make it right for a Christian to emulate. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus directs us to do the right thing. That is, no matter how bad and evil a person may be we should never ask God to “uproot” the person as a bad plant from the face of the earth. We should use prayer to aid “evil” people towards conversion.

Permit me to cite two biblical examples on the need to give people the second chance to convert. You may remember the Roman Centurion who was charged with the cruel duty to punish and crucify Jesus. He started the “Good Friday” day as an evil man but ended the day as a saint. It is believed that this soldier by the name of Longinus converted to become a Christian after Good Friday and became a great evangelizer of the gospel. So, in this case, if some Christians had asked God to remove him from the face of the earth, he couldn’t have converted and become an evangelizer of the gospel.  

Another example is the conversion of St. Mary Magdalene. She was a public sinner and some people nearly stoned her to death, but when Christ gave her a second chance, she became a saint. We need to learn to pray for sinners and should never ask God to punish anybody with death because of his/her evil ways.

In the first reading the author to the book of Wisdom indicates that God does not work with selectivity, but rather he is a God for all people. The inspired writer wrote: “For neither is there any god besides you whose care is for all people, to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly…”

The attitude of God towards all people is the identity of the Catholic Church. The Church is a home for all people: sinners and saints. We should not change this identity of the church. But before I conclude, permit me to give this word of caution. The timeline for the second chance God has given to each one of us is known to God alone and so we should let each day be an opportunity for conversion. Else when the time is up for harvesting, we are told that he will separate the wheat from the chaff and the chaff he will set them on fire. And on that day, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Your second chance is today so do not procrastinate. May God grant salvation to all his children. OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP PRAY FOR US.