Matthew 13:24-43, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In his last two years on earth, Jesus left the life of fixing and building things so he could fix and build people instead. As a skilled carpenter, he could assess a project before even driving the first nail in. So, Jesus must’ve foreseen right from the start, that this career move had his work cut out for him. Na hindi magiging madali ang binabalak niyang gawin. In his Israel, the big picture was righteousness and purity according to the Law, based on how the Jewish hierarchs interpreted the Law anyway, and how they modeled it. Big picture. Kaso lang, Jesus saw the fine print that the hierarchs did not want you to read, or if you wish, the pixels that they didn’t want you to see. Because what looked like righteousness, zoomed out, was really ruthless self-righteousness and bigotry, zoomed in. What looked like Temple purity, zoomed out, was really corruption and politicking, zoomed in. So, there was a workplace hazard in Jesus’ career move. By nursing the sick and the possessed back to health, by turning public sinners around, and by restoring to the poor their social dignity, Jesus was sure the hierarchs would uproot him from the field. Nakakadalawang taon pa lang siya sa pagpapanday ng tao, binunot na siya, na parang siya pa ang masamang damo. He was bad for their image and, shh…, bad for Temple business.

A friend of mine runs a university in the province. Over lunch recently, he confided that whenever he looked at the big picture these days, he would feel deep, unsettling anguish. Bad enough that he wonders if he needs someone to sort it out with. Balisang-balisa siya sa sobrang dami at lago ng masasamang damo sa kalakaran, pero ‘yun bang nagkukunwaring trigo. Sure, there’s always been corruption in our country, in any country, for that matter. But these past many months, my friend and I observe how the weeds have overrun farm and field in record time and virulently. And yet, there’s winsome pretention of well-being and progress. And this is symbolized, for example, by a shiny new logo (expensive but sophomoric); or a tourism video (catchy but plagiarized); or a sovereign fund (but only for the sovereign). My friend is a good citizen, a very religious family man, and a school president. So, I can imagine his anguish whenever he’s caught between weeds and wheat. Because whether you’re running an institution (and have to deal with accreditation), or managing a construction firm (and have to deal with city hall), or rectoring an international community (and have to deal with immigration), you’d also find yourself roped in and be complicit to unwieldy activity, if you want things to move; best intentions and noblest causes out the window. By the way, sisters and brothers, whether in the field of civil or religious life, those most difficult to call out for change are people who have actually turned from wheat to weed. Very often, they were willingly fed and watered with trust, apprenticed in power, and promised a position. May kilala ba kayong gano’n? ‘Yung nagsimulang tapat at mabuti, tapos pinamihasa sa posisyon at kapangyarihan, kaya naging masamang damo?

By the time Jesus went from fixer of things to fixer of people, the field was overrun by weeds twinning with the wheat. In his heart, he hoped and aimed for Kingdom-big. But he started mustard-seed-small, yeast-small, and just kept doing and doing it. He didn’t waste the last years of his life railing daily against the Temple biggies na makunat na ang balat at makapal na ang mukha. Instead, he busied himself uplifting the little ones every new day. Gawa lang siya nang gawa ng mabuti, sige-sige lang, gamay pero kanunay. Breathless with anguish like my friend, Jesus cried over Jerusalem; many times, I bet. But he would keep sowing and sowing good seed even if he had to water them with his tears.

Sisters and brothers, I’m almost resigned that corruption is here to stay. It’s not just politicians. Each of us is really a mysterious seedbed of wheat and weed. In differing degrees, we all have a streak of duplicity in us. That’s why we freely decide to repress our inner goodness sometimes, so we can indulge our self-serving pleasures, even when they already hurt and harm. It sounds bleak. But see…

…Kuya Loloy still comes to work each day to fix our leaking ceilings. Then, he sends to his family in Bacolod every peso he earns, leaving only, like, P300 for himself. Videl is our gardener with a bum heart. He still doubles up in the kitchen for overtime, to pay for his medications, so he can live longer for his kids out in Bulacan. Manang Lita, blind in one eye and slight as a doll, continues to wash my dad’s clothes by hand after more than 15 years and cares for her paralyzed husband back home. And all of you in this mass, I’m sure you live each day making every minute of your life matter and count especially for people you love. So, multiply these good seeds by thousands of similar good people doing good things every day. We realize, sa gitna ng masasamang damo sa bukirin ng Diyos, we really are amongst good wheat, fellow mustard trees, fellow loaves of bread. Wheat still outnumber weeds, though quietly, because God is the sower during seed time, God is the farmer through all seasons, and God is the reaper come harvest time. There is no duplicity in God. There is just deep-rooted goodness.