The Harvest

Day's Saints
Bridget of Sweden, Franciscan

Gospel Mt 13:24-43

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
His slaves said to him,
'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"

He spoke to them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sows them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

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Even in the belly of the whale, God safeguards
His beloved.

Let us rather not dwell on the evil done by the wicked, but remember the good done by the just, who will shine like the sun one day, and who did the Will of God and so built up the land and the people of God.

Let your patience be your defining attribute, so your love will shine out to dispel darkness. Be like the Lord who worked obscurely in the midst of His people, so that He could bring them into the light some day to shine like heaven itself.

God brings healing out of suffering and darkness so that all that is left is the strong patience of the holy, who imitating God, gladden the hearts of his brothers.

God causes your suffering and despair to be healing and salvation; the burning of the damned will be all the more striking beside the bliss of those who loved God and his brothers and sisters.

Jesus drank from the sponge dipped into common wine, and having drunk, commended His soul to God and died. He rose again in due time and ascended back to God to return to His side to judge and to bless, for the good men do reflects His glory so that He may gether them to His side.

The bitterness of our pain reflects the passion of Our Lord, and sweetness is tasted by the faithful who love God and act for the salvation of the children of God.

Will not the just man cry out for the man for whom he suffers so the Lord may be moved to save them? You must know that he will, and the just Lord will reward appropriately, all those who displayed their love of God through their good deeds. God does not punish us for the good we were prevented from doing by evil, but for the love we fail to do willfully, so that the relief cannot come until God acts to requite all.

The Lord's rest will come as surely as dawn follows nightfall, and those who labored so the Lord may rest, will never lack rest for themselves. Neither will despair overcome the just man who labors to love the children of God and bring them good things.

You who wish you could say something comforting to your brothers and sisters will not lack the encouragement of the man consecrated and approved by God, but will speak His holy words to heal and comfort all. For God did not create us for suffering and death, but for the life of Jesus which He proposes to share with everyone who will dispose himself appropriately.

Though it was brief, I woke from my sleep rested for the journey ahead, where I laid down for Him who fixed me to the cross out of my desire placed there burning in my heart like desire itself.

Great things are being done, great things burst out like joy that cannot be constrained. Men are lifted up to God to know Him by the fire of His love in their hearts, warming and purifying and buoying up all who are fastened to the bottom of the sea, stayed like an anchor in God Himself.

It is the nature of fire that the air around it becomes light and bouyant to rise until it cools. I have burned greatly in my youth, and now I settle back down to wait on His pleasure who lavished so much of Himself on me who did not deserve it and and was not grateful to please Him enough. He kindles me, and He will kindle you, for He alone knows if you sinned or fell short of the mark, but He will still be glad we are near Him, and we will rise again, our hearts wafted up in the warmth of the fire of His love.

Trim your lamps and carry oil with you, for out of the night, the Bridegroom comes to enter His home and welcome into it all who kept His vigil in their hearts, eagerly awaiting His coming.