He answered, ‘An enemy has done this
Ex 24,3-8; Ps 49; Mt 13,24-30
27 JULY
Weeds are not born in time, but come from God’s heaven. Lucifer has managed to sow lies and falsehood even among the angels of God. He was the brightest Angel. Having precipitated on the earth he began to sow his lie in the Garden of Eden. He sowed it in the heart of the woman. For the woman he sowed it in the heart of man.
Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it (Rev 12,1-9).
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves (Gen 3,1-7).
Weeds were also sown in the college of the Apostles. He spread it in the heart of Judas, transforming it into a devil and pushing him to betray the Master. In the Church also, immediately after Pentecost, weeds appear. They used a man and a woman. But Peter did not let himself be deceived by their lie. Corinth is a fertile field in which he has been able to sow all kinds of falsehoods. Divisions, immorality and loss of all truth. Faith in the resurrection was dead too.
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper (Jn 13,1-2). A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. He retained for himself, with his wife’s knowledge, some of the purchase price, took the remainder, and put it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God” (At 5,1-4). It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans – a man living with his father’s wife. And you are inflated with pride (1Cor 5,1-2).
There is not on earth a place where weeds cannot be sown. Dioceses, parishes, cloisters, coenobitions, hermitages, seminaries, movements, associations, families and institutions at every level, as soon as they are put into being, weeds immediately appear. Whoever wants to live in a house of mere pure people is in great error. This desire attests that weeds are already in his heart. These desires are the fruit of Satan. They are his seed of falsehood.
He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us so that the enemy does not sow weeds in us.