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In our Gospel today we are presented with three more parables about the nature of God's Kingdom. The first two about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price tell us about the inestimable value of the Kingdom. The third one about the dragnet tells us about the great diversity of its make up.
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Darnel is a common weed in Palestine and indeed around the world. The seed of the darnel is easily mistaken for wheat and the two plants are indistinguishable until they have ripened and the ear has developed. This means that they are easily confused for each other, hence the believability of the conclusion drawn in the parable that it had to have been an enemy who had sown the darnel among the wheat.
Today we are given a rather agricultural parable for our consideration and we might think that Jesus would have been sure that the people would easily understand his meaning since their whole lives were spent so close to the land.
The First Reading today presents us with a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. It is put in typical Old Testament terms; and by this I mean that the language used is what would be understood by the people at the time of writing. That explains why the Saviour is presented as a King but instead of the usual conquering-hero kind of King that we might have expected, this King is presented as a humble peacemaker who goes so far as to banish weapons from his Kingdom.
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Father Alex McAllister SDSParish Priest of
St Thomas à Becket Wandsworth Archives
January 2019
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