Today’s readings: Wisdom 12, 13.16-19; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43.

When Pope Francis weeks ago brought together Mahmoud Abbas and Shimon Peres for a meeting of prayer, many were hesitant about what it could change in the Middle East scenario. The tragic re-explosion of the conflict in these past days seems to confirm this scepticism about that gesture. A few days ago someone even wrote in what considers itself America’s most influential Journal of Religion and Public Life, “the magic olive tree planted for the cameras did not work”.

Evil always seems to thrive. But the worst happens when even those who consider themselves believers just give in to the mainstream feeling that evil in the end is stronger than good and will prevail. Today’s Scriptures revisit this old and new issue that has haunted humanity since its origin.

Why is there evil? Why is it that evil thrives? Where does God figure in all this? If God is stronger than evil, as we claim to believe, how come He is so impotent in the face of violence, be it human or natural?

The questioning heart is restless in the face of these questions and replete with a deepest desire for a dream world where goodness triumphs. But life cannot be that romantic and faith is not a wonderland project. Nowhere is it written in the Scriptures that God ever promised an evil-free or violence-free world.

We read words of wisdom today in the first reading which correct our deep-rooted misconceptions about God: “Your justice has its source in strength, your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all”. God is extremely patient, to the extent that His strength can easily be mistaken for weakness in the face of evil.

Today’s parable from Matthew is an eye-opener. God’s power and greatness is in His capacity to wait, not in His politics of intervention the way we would expect Him to do. “Let them both grow till the harvest”, goes the story, referring to good and evil growing side by side. There is always “the harvest”, the right time to intervene. To be wise is to know when is the right time, the opportune moment.

All this is crucial for the Church’s mission at this juncture of its history. Matthew’s gospel, most probably written after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans, suggests that there was an active debate in Matthew’s community concerning whether the Church should seek to be a community of the pure or whether it should accept a more ambiguous status awaiting the final judgment.

According to Richard Hays, in his book The Moral Vision of the New Testament, in today’s parable Matthew clearly opts for the latter view. The struggle in the churches between those who want clear group boundaries and those who want an inclusive community is never ending.

It still occurs often in the Church that in pastoral action we go by the book, giving priority to the law over the Gospel, to order over mercy. The reality we live in and we are sent to evangelise is much more complex and cannot be reduced to black or white situations.

Pastoral care demands wisdom, not judgment. If we were simply called to pass judgment, then we could easily do away with the gospel of Jesus. There would have been no justification for the coming of Jesus or even for his death on the cross.

The working document just published in Rome for the upcoming Synod of Bishops in October sets the stage for a crucial debate very similar to that in Matthew’s community. This is the time when the inspiration and wisdom we need, demand of us boldness and the courage to part company with the archaic philosophy and anthropology underpinning our theologies of God, marriage and sexuality.

The strength of the Christian community is most manifest when it offers healing to the wounded and when it is creative enough to find forms of inclusion and of accompanying people whatever their situation.

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