Back in the seminary, about half my class came straight from minor seminary and about half from various professions. We had police officers, teachers, lawyers, pilots. One fellow was an engineer. At one point, we were preparing a birthday party for one of our classmates. There was no Costco in Rome, so we put the engineer in charge of baking the cake. Big mistake. The directions said to put the batter in a pan and bake at 350º for 45 minutes or so. Being an engineer, he did some quick calculations and determined that he could save some time if he put it in at 525º for 25 minutes. The results were predictable. It was charred on the outside and gooey raw on the inside. What he didn’t realize is that time is an ingredient.
This is a little bit about what Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. The weed in question here is most likely darnel or cockle, a noxious weed that closely resembles wheat and is plentiful in Israel. The difference between darnel and real wheat is evident only when the plants mature and the ears appear.
In the parable, the workers first reaction is to question the quality of the seed. As Deacon John taught us last week, that is not the issue. This is the work of an enemy. As difficult as it seems, given that the roots of the weeds are intertwined with the wheat, it is better to wait until the harvest to separate them. Time is an ingredient in the fulfillment of the Kingdom.
It’s the same with us in our own spiritual lives. So often in our prayer life we want to cut corners and save some time. The results will be as predictable as that cake or the ripping of the wheat with the weeds. The truth is that each of us has our gifts and our crosses. Sometimes we want to shed our cross, but in doing so, our gifts would be cast aside as well. Time is an ingredient and God’s timing is so much better than our own.