Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today’s readings can result in a bit of spiritual whiplash. In the first reading, we come upon the scene of Moses and the Hebrews in the desert. Moses pitches a tent outside of the camp as the place to meet God. But there is a startling detail: Anyone who wished to consult the LORD would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Anyone! Not only has God been faithful in leading the Hebrews out of their slavery in Egypt, God is now generously available to them. But here comes some whiplash. The LORD reminds Moses and his people that God is abundant in mercy and kindness but he is also just, meaning that punishment will not only come upon the guilty but upon their “children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.” In the end, Moses prays that the LORD will stay with them in spite of their faults (and faults they have!). The whiplash comes from being pulled to the directions of both mercy and justice. Jewish interpreters have said about other places in Scripture that God’s character is often portrayed with both attributes so as not to be confined to either.
In today’s Gospel, we have the continuation of this somewhat black-and-white picture, this time offered by Jesus. Jesus challenges his listeners and readers to consider the difference between the “good seeds” (those in the Kingdom of God) and the “weeds” (what he calls the “children of the Evil One”). In the end, the weeds will be burned and the good seeds will be harvested. We know well the deep mercy of Christ in the Gospel but here we are reminded of justice. Once again, we are pulled one way, and then another.
This push-and-pull can leave us feeling a bit disoriented about what Scripture wants to tell us about God. But when Moses prays that God stay with the Israelites in the desert, he calls them a “stiff-necked people.”
This is a great image for thinking about how we can sometimes become fixated on something (or someone) without reflecting on where God wants our attention to be. Perhaps this push and pull is meant to force us out of our complacency. It is our temptation to stiffen our necks but God shakes us free from this stagnation to look elsewhere and find new opportunities to bring Christ to those around us.
- Katherine Schmidt