Reflection for Sunday 19th July, 2026

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Members of an Imperfect Church (Matt 13:24-43)

Last Sunday we had the parable of planting seeds. Today we follow up with three short parables … the darnel weed, mustard seed, and yeast.

Darnel is a weed that winds itself around the stem and chokes the plant. There are seven darnels known as the seven deadly sins: pride, covetousness, lust, envy, anger, gluttony and sloth. When untamed, these wild energies give us a lot of trouble. Lord, take this lust out of my life! Take this anger out of my life! God is the wise gardener who knows that pulling up the weed will damage the root of the wheat.

Anger is an energy that can inspire the determination to act for justice or to correct what is wrong. Lust is an offshoot of interest in people, attraction and the ability to love. These untamed energies are wild flowers in the wrong place. Take anger and lust totally out of life and one is no better than a passionless stone! Treat your wild energies with respect. Channel them in the right direction.

Never despair of what God can do from the most unlikely beginning. You are part of this human-divine Church, the taskforce of God’s kingdom on earth. Do your little bit and let God do the multiplying.

Mustard Seed and Yeast

The parables of the mustard seed and spoon of yeast show how great movements can emerge from small beginnings. The tiny, yellow mustard seeds are so light that they are so easily blown on the wind that the plant spreads far and wide. What about the yeast, also known as leaven? A housewife is baking bread, mixing the dough. She has kept some of yesterday’s dough which is now going sour, fermenting, beginning to bubble. A little of this bubbling stuff is mixed with today’s baking. Without this bubbly stuff, the new bread will be flat and stodgy. But the bubbles of yeast allow pockets of air which make the new bread soft and light. Like the tiny mustard seed, God can use some unknown person to start something great. And, like the fermenting dough, God can inspire somebody of dubious background to do great work. Oscar Schindler, nominally a Catholic, was a man with a very shady background. Yet he became somebody who saved thousands of Jews from extermination.

Mary’s Meals

Television showed disturbing pictures of war, famine, homelessness and poverty in Bosnia. Two brothers, fishermen in Scotland, were deeply disturbed at what they saw. They were inspired to do something for the children in Bosnia deprived of food and education. They organised a local collection and car-boot sale. The response was overwhelming. It grew and grew at a fantastic rate. Now over a million children, who previously were deprived of education because they had to work at home, every day get both food and education. The kingdom of God is like a spoon of sour leaven which can bubble up into the best of bread. Never despair of what God can do from the most unlikely beginning. You are part of this human-divine Church, the taskforce of God’s kingdom on earth. Do your little bit and let God do the multiplying.