27 July 2024 -- Saturday of the 16th week ‘B
Homily
Our natural tendency is to classify people into two categories, the good and the bad. Obviously, we generally put ourselves in the first category. This is the tendency of individuals, nations and religious groups alike.
Always driven by a deep need for security, we are easily disturbed by the relative nature of all things. We then try to transform all our concepts into absolutes, and we are easily disturbed by those who do not feel the same need. We quickly become intolerant and sectarian.
The Apostles themselves were scandalised by the attitude of the Pharisees and certain hesitant disciples, and they even wanted Jesus to send fire down from heaven on the cities that had not wanted to receive him. Jesus refused.
He was the universal shepherd. He had not come in power as a judge whose mission was to separate the good from the bad. He did not draw dividing lines between the disciples. He did not judge. He had come for sinners and simply hoped that everyone would recognise themselves as sinners. In his love, waiting for a response, he had extraordinary respect for all those he loved. His patience was an expression of radical self-detachment.
Throughout his life, he was the embodiment of God's patience with sinners. He showed that divine forgiveness knew no bounds and that no sin could wrest man from the power of the Father.
But the message of today's parable goes even further. Jesus is not a legislator. He does not bring a new law that is superior to the old one. What he brings is a new leaven that he has come to deposit in human dough. By its universality, this leaven invites all generations to rethink and reshape their lives. No human institution can imprison this leaven. Everything must be remodelled.
As the Body of Christ, the Church has been given the task of embodying Jesus' patience with humanity. Its mission is not to separate the good from the bad, but to present an authentic face of love. On earth, the wheat is always mixed with the chaff and even with the tares. The dividing line between good and evil runs through the middle of each one of us. The separation can only take place after death.
Armand Veilleux