Gospel Reading :Matthew 13:36-43
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears, let him hear.
What do the Fathers say?
St REMIGIUS. The Lord calls Himself the Son of Man, that in that title He might set an example of humility that through belief in His Humanity we might ascend to knowledge of His Divinity.
The harvest is the day of judgment, in which the good are to be separated from the evil; which will be done by the ministry of Angels,
As then the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers.
In the present world the light of the saints shines before men, but after the consummation of all things, the righteous themselves shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He says, Then they will shine, implies that they now shine for an example to others, but they shall then shine as the sun to the praise of God. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
St RABANUS. Let him understand who has understanding, because all these things are to be understood mystically, and not literally.
Sources:
Bible readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Second Catholic Edition, copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Quotes of the Fathers from :
Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea Translated by St John Henry Newman
Artwork ex Wikimedia Commons