SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

To Verify a Piece of Good Wood One Must Wait Seven Years

First Reading (Wis 12:13,16-19 ) : God treats us with both mercy and might
Second Reading (Rom 8:26-27 ) : The Holy Spirit intercedes for us
Gospel ( Lk 10:38-42) : The parables of the weed, the mustard seed and yeast
Chinese Classics
-“Let me present you with a method to decide when in doubt, No need to use the tortoise-shell or stalks; To test jade requires burning it for three whole days, To verify a piece of good wood requires waiting for seven years.” (1)

Jesus put before them a parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” ’ (Mt13:24-30)

There is good and evil in the world and there are good people and wicked ones. God will not destroy all wicked people, leaving all good persons to spend their lives in peace and ease.

Actually, we all are sinners. If God wished to eliminate all those who sin, none of us could be excluded. Nonetheless, God tolerates us and accepts each one of us. The Book of Wisdom says that although God is almighty and powerful yet He is kind when carrying out judgment, ‘Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us. Through such works you have taught your people that the righteous must be kind, and you have filled your children with good hope, because you give repentance for sins.’ (Wis 12: 18-19)

God is a gracious God, generous, forgiving, with unlimited love for us. He is not a calculating God. He waits for us to repent and hopes we will be converted..

In his poem, High-flown Talk, the Tang poet, Bai Juyi wrote: “Let me present you with a method to decide when in doubt, No need to use the tortoise-shell or stalks; To test jade requires burning it for three whole days, To verify a piece of good wood requires waiting for seven years. The Master Zhou feared rumour about him, Wang Mang was humble before he usurped the throne; If they died right then, who would know the truth and falsehood about them?”(1)

The poem says that to resolve doubts or to distinguish the good from the bad, we do not need fortune-telling or tapping on the tortoise-shell. Time will make the distinction for us.

“To test jade requires burning it for three whole days”: Some stones look like jade but they are not genuine jade. To tell the difference, we have to burn it for three days. The genuine jade can withstand the three-day burning. If it is not genuine jade, after three days, it will be burnt to ashes.

“To verify a piece of good wood requires waiting for seven years”: At the beginning, it is very difficult to tell whether the wood of a tree is good or bad. You have to put it in a wet corner, and wait for seven years before you can tell whether the wood is solid and useful or whether it will be rotten.

Bai Juyi gave two more examples. At first, there was the rumour that Master Zhou was going to start a revolt. On the other hand, Wang Mang was considered a loyal minister. If they died before their time, Master Zhou would be judged by posterity as being a disloyal and treacherous minister and Wang Mang would be seen as a loyal minister. With the test of time, we found out that Master Zhou was a true loyal minister and Wang Mang was a real treacherous minister. That was why Bai Juyi wrote, If they died right then, who would know the truth and falsehood about them?”

In our recent history, if Wang Jing Wei, Jiang Jie Shi, Zhou En Lai and others had died at a different time, people may have had different comments about them. If Dr. Sun Yat Sian had lived twenty years longer, who knows who he would have become?

God wants to give us time. He allows things to happen. He allows time for us to change. He does not want to distinguish between good and evil too quickly or judge too easily.

Jesus described the Kingdom of heaven as a mustard seed. People plant it in a field. It is the smallest among all seeds yet it grows into the largest among all plants. It can even become a tree that allows birds to rest on its branches (ref. Matthew 13:31-32) We who are followers of Christ and have faith, must allow our faith to endure the test of time and prove our loyalty to God.

Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’ (Mt 13:33)

Yeast needs time to be effective. We should always answer God’s call. We should live out our faith in our lives, in our families and careers, and each of us be a witness to Christ.

We need not always grumble about things we do not like. We should learn to manage our surroundings and order our own lives. Everything is ordained by God. We should not rush to be God’s “secretary” and consultant, telling God what to do. We should put our life into God’s hands with a humble heart.

‘Let both of them grow together until the harvest,’ Jesus said. ‘At harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ (Mt 13:30)

Let us be loyal till the end of our lives so that finally we will be like the wheat stored in the Lord’s barn .

(1)贈君一法決狐疑，不用鑽龜與祝蓍； 試玉要燒三日滿，辨材需待七年期。