Good Things Are Not Rushed

HOMILY: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 13:24-43

23 July 2023

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez

We recently concluded the Painting Workshop for our children in San Roque Parish. There were 150 who signed up for the intensive painting classes moderated by three artists — all graduates of the University of Santo Tomas. On the second day, only 130 children returned for class. The following day 20 more children did not show up. Eventually, on the last day only 100 children successfully finished the painting sessions. I was impressed by how well they progressed after each day’s sessions. Since their artworks are quite impressive, we decided to mount an event to showcase them in an “Exhibit-for-a-Cause” as well as have them made into pocket calendars and cards for sale. The proceeds are intended to help them with their school needs. We look forward to welcoming your generous support! 

This recent experience with the painting workshop reminded me that worthwhile things take time and require patience. We tend to be very impatient and demand immediate outcomes. I am assuming that all those who eagerly signed up for the sessions thought that they would become good at it after the first few sessions only to be disappointed with themselves. For those of you who know how to bake, you know that there are very specific cooking time for cakes, cookies, brownies, and breads. If you cannot wait for the full cooking time, you will end up with half-baked goodies that are inedible. What a waste it would be!   

I am also well aware that there is our tendency to be ever so jealous of people who are so successful early in life. There are the children who were discovered for their talent either in singing, dancing and acting and suddenly became famous on TV or in the movies. There are those who have immediately become famous on social media and earn millions by being funny or by making a review of almost anything of your choosing. When I was a child, majority of children wanted to grow up and be professionals — doctors, nurses, lawyers, architects. These courses require 5-10 years of studies. Parents work hard to pay for tuition and the kids  work hard in school to graduate.  These days, many kids opt to drop out of school to become “content creators” because they believe with some creativity, they can go viral and make big money in a short span of time. They don’t see the point in spending their youth in school to learn things as they don’t believe these are relevant to making them a truckload of money or gaining them status or fame. With Tiktok or Youtube, if you’re lucky, you can become popular right away, and you can make a lot of money.

It is the same with becoming persons belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven. While we are assured that fullness of life will be ours, we all must live faithfully and persevere as we contend with the many temptations that keep us from being faithful. There is no shortcut to heaven. Holiness is not something that happens overnight. It comes after a long struggle with our failures and imperfections. All of us are moving towards maturity and self-actualisation.  We cannot be jealous of each other because we are all growing together at different paces — the advanced and the slackers, the old-timers and the newbies, those who persevere and those who easily give up. We find ourselves together in the struggle called life.

Just like the slaves of the landowner, our impulse is to pull the weeds right away so the wheat can grow faster and healthier. But the landowner realises that in doing so, we could pull up the good wheat as well and in effect the harvest can be compromised. So, he advises that the wheat should be allowed to grow with the weeds and at harvest they just separate the crop from what needs to be discarded. The implication is that the soil is rich enough for both the wheat and weeds to grow! As we are all a work in progress, we are invited to be patient with ourselves as we grow in our discipleship. There is a saying that the sun shines on both the good and the bad. God showers His graces to everyone. (Walang pinipili ang grasya na pinapaulan ng Diyos.) The air we breathe, the sun that shines — everything in the world God created — is meant for all, not just a select few.

Actually, to think that people can be classified as simply good and bad is unrealistic. In each one of us exists a combination of wheat and weeds. Every person struggles with being pulled in opposite directions: either toward the values of the kingdom or to everything opposed to it. St. Paul expressed this frustration within himself as he recognises his continued sinning in spite of his desire to do good and follow God’s law. “So, I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” (Romans 7:21-23) Like St. Paul, we are reminded that God’s power is more than sufficient for our growth and maturation. Though there are weeds among the wheat, a harvest is imminent. A large bush from the smallest of seeds is underway as a loaf of bread shall rise from a mere bit of yeast. So, we need to learn how to be patient with our own weaknesses as God is patient with us, given that we constantly fall from grace and commit the same mistakes repeatedly. How blessed are we then that the power of God is manifested not in the destruction of the sinner but rather in the salvation of the repentant.  “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” (Wisdom 12:19)

We have been immersed long enough in a global culture of instant gratification and fear that we won’t have enough time to succeed or to make it big, that we no longer have the ability to defer the satisfaction of our desires and endure suffering. It’s so easy to get discouraged these days. Just having a minor problem makes one really depressed. Let us be patient with ourselves!!! Nobody is perfect. Nobody is born immediately successful. We all must go through a process of growth and development. No matter how small the beginnings, if we are faithful to the spirit and values of the Kingdom, we will surely help build a world where the reign of God is experienced among us, not in some distant future, but in the here and now.  

For those of us who are short-tempered and anxiety-ridden, Jesus reminds us to respect the process of growth as it entails time and grace.  All good things in this life cannot be rushed. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Let us have faith in the power of God and His divine timing. Trust that God’s merciful love will transform us into the persons He has intended us to be.