It feels truly consoling when life runs smoothly, when our plans reach their completion without obstacles. How we wish things are always like this: no hindrances, no opposition to our plans. The fact, however, is that we almost always have to contend with opposing forces or hindrances to our plans. There are always “weeds” that threaten the “wheat” that we sow. And naturally our instinctive reaction is to control or remove these “weeds” to let the “wheat” grow unhindered. Still, no matter how much we try, the weeds have a way of asserting themselves, and in the end, we simply have to wait for the “harvest time,” when we can separate the weeds from the wheat, the chaff from the grain. Evil and goodness co-exist in this world. But Jesus assures us there will be a time of reckoning for these weeds. They may seem to prevail now, but they have a certain destiny: elimination or destruction. God will make sure this happens. But do we have to wait for the end to get rid of the evil in the world? We can already begin now.

Jesus dismissed the crowds and 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.”