For Matthew, faith is never stagnant. If there's faith, there's growth: good seed planted in a field, a tiny mustard seed growing into a mighty bush, yeast making the dough rise and turning wheat into wholesome bread. If I'm alive in God, there should be plenty of signs of growth in my life.

The readings this week spread a banquet of opportunities to reach the people to whom you preach. The wonders of divine wisdom. The spirit that helps us to pray and discern our hearts.

THE WHEAT AND the weeds grow up together: That is a succinct description of human history. Certainly it was true in Jesus’ own biography. He chose 12 apostles to be his intimate associates, and was not one of them a sometimes negative presence?

Some Americans alive today can still vividly recall the horror of Senator Joseph McCarthy's paranoid hunt for communist infiltrators in the 1940s and '50s, which ruined or stalled the careers of dozens of writers and entertainers who were labeled communist sympathizers.

My wife and I were young and naïve when we bought our first house. We moved into it in early spring, and soon discovered that the woman who owned the house before us had been a wonderful gardener.

In one of the more affluent suburbs of Chicago, in front of an expensive home, there is a front yard that looks uncared for and virtually abandoned. It has made the news because the new owner has taken out the green, unmowed lawn and let the yard revert back to its natural, prairie state.

Perhaps Jesus told the parable of the weeds and wheat because he was also worried about weeding too soon. That is, people can have the tendency to rush to judgment about the worth of others.

We turn to our God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness and faithfulness to us.

He spoke to them only in parables. Jesus explains his use of parables by referring to the words of Psalm 78:2. This reference serves to show Christ's action as a fulfillment of scripture, and to make a statement about Jesus who reveals mysteries that have lain hidden since the beginning of the world.

Those therefore who wish to . . . inherit the everlasting kingdom of God must not be weeds but wheat. They must avoid saying or doing anything useless, and practice the opposite virtues, thus bringing forth the fruits of repentance. --Gregory Palamas (1296-1359)