Sunday 23 July 2023 – XVI of Ordinary Time

+ From the Gospel according to Matthew (13, 24 – 43)

At that time, Jesus exposed another parable to the crowd, saying: «The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds in the midst of the wheat and went away. Then when the stem grew and bore fruit, he also sprouted the weeds. Then the servants came to the master of the house and said to him, “Sir, have you not sown good seed in your field? Where does the tares come from?”. And he answered them, “An enemy did this!” And the servants said to him, “Do you want us to go and pick it up?” “No, he replied, because it doesn’t happen that, by gathering the weeds, you also uproot the wheat with it. Let one and the other grow together until the harvest and at the time of the harvest he will say to the reapers: First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them; but put the wheat in my barn”.
He exposed them another parable, saying: «The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds but, once it has grown, it is larger than the other plants in the garden and becomes a tree, so much so that the birds of the sky come and make their nests in its branches”.
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until she was all leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables and did not speak to them except in parables, so that he might fulfill what was said through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth with parables,
I will proclaim things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
Then he dismissed the crowd and entered the house; his disciples approached him to say to him: «Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field». And he replied: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world and the good seed are the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. So as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, who will gather from his kingdom all those who sin and all who commit iniquity, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Who has ears, listen!».

Word of the Lord.