Memorial of Saints Joachim & Anne

"Wheat and Weeds. Parent and Child."
 
Today’s gospel passage (Mt. 13:36-43) is the conclusion of Jesus’ parable about the sowing of seeds of wheat by a farmer and his enemy sowing seeds of weeds in his field at night. The wheat and the weeds are allowed to grow together but are separated at the harvest. At this time the weeds are collected and thrown into a furnace to be burned. The weeds, of course, are the evildoers, the followers of the Evil One.
 
I have come to think that our relationship with God in very large part can be best understood through the lens of the parent/child relationship, which is, indeed, exactly how Jesus also saw things. For Jesus, God was, after all, His Father. Abba. A major component of Jesus’ mission was precisely to reveal God as Father and to invite us into this relationship. We were taught from the very early stages of our Christian education that we are God’s adoptive children.
 
All of us know from experience what it means to be a child. And this experience evolves, grows. The parent of a 4 year old will use punishment as a necessary means to shape the behavior of the child who cannot yet understand certain dangers in his environment. Think of playing with matches. This dynamic does not apply to the healthy relationship of a parent dealing with an adult child.
 
Conversely, the 4 year old responds so as to avoid being punished. The adult child no longer responds out of fear of punishment but rather out of love for their parent.
 
The image with which today’s gospel ends is harsh but familiar.
 
I wonder if Jesus (and the Father) use images to form our thinking and actions that are appropriate to the level of maturity of our relationship as children to our Father.
 
For example, if my relationship with God has not grown and matured beyond fear of being punished by God, then perhaps these images are needed. Perhaps my perspective is that of a young child of 4 or 5 years of age regardless of my actual age. (And this may be anything but apparent to me.)
 
On the other hand, if what forms my relationship with God is more love- and not fear-based, then my behavior will be more self-correcting and much less, if at all, in need of external threats. An adult child does not need parental punishment to realize and respond to having offended a beloved parent. The foundational love is all that is required.
 
What parent of a very young child does not look forward to someday having an adult relationship with their child? It brings a depth and richness not possible with a young child, does it not?
 
Why should we think that God the Father is different?
 
How mature is my relationship with Our Father? Which is more operative in this relationship? Fear or love? What does Our Father desire for and from me?
 
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me.