317. Seventeenth Tuesday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 293 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The enemy of God and of souls has sown weeds in the field of the world.
Once again the Church invites us to obtain new insights and strengthen our resolutions by meditating on the Gospel parable of the weeds in the wheatfield. To do this, we can do what we have done many times before: listen to our Fatherâs teachings.
Look at what divine wisdom tells us in the parable of the weeds sown among the wheat: simile factum est regnum caelorum homini qui seminavit bonum semen in agro suo; cum autem dormirent homines, venit inimicus eius et superseminavit zizania in medio tritici, et abiit: the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
Itâs all very clear: the field is fertile and the seed is good; the Lord of the field has sown the seed with great expertise and at the most suitable time; and he also set guards to watch over the work done. If the weeds appear afterwards it is because people, Christians especially, have fallen asleep and have allowed the enemy to get in: cum autem dormirent homines, venit inimicus (while men were sleeping, his enemy came).
Christâs words are always applicable. Now too, the enemy of God and of souls is as active as ever, and he takes advantage of the laziness and lack of drive of so many Christians to sow the weeds of error everywhere. When the irresponsible servants asked the Lord how the weeds came to be in his field, he gave them a very simple explanation: inimicus homo hoc fecit: an enemy has done it! We Christians, who should have made sure that the things put in this world by God were allowed to develop in the service of goodness and truth - we Christians, I say, have gone to sleep (a sad business, that sleep) while the enemy and all who serve him are working non-stop. See how the weeds have grown and how they thrive on all sides!âŚ
Why have the weeds grown so much in this world of ours, Godâs field? Today, Tuesday, we ask God for light, using the words of Psalm Two: Quare fremuerunt gentes, et populi meditati sunt inania? - Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? We can reply without hesitation: ignorance is the greatest enemy of our faith and at the same time the greatest obstacle to the Redemption of souls being carried through, since, as Tertullian wrote, desinunt odisse qui desinunt ignorare: they cease to hate when they cease to be ignorant - ignorant of the truths of faith and of our situation as children of God. This ignorance has been sown to a large extent by the enemy of God and of souls, making use of human resources while we Christians forgot our duty to acquire formation and to teach and spread doctrine.
Importance of the apostolate of public opinion.
The words of the Psalm we meditate on every Tuesday are very explicit: Astiterunt reges terrae, et principes convenerunt in unum adversus Dominum et adversus christum eius - The kings of the earth set themselves, and the riders take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, taking advantage of the slumber of the children of God. Cum autem dormirent homines⌠(While men were sleeping⌠) This reprehensible sleep on the part of those who should have been on guard has allowed the enemy to sow weeds everywhere. Particularly to blame are the Catholic laity, who are the ones most directly concerned with the ordering of temporal affairs.
It is their job to be actively present in society, and not to abandon the earthly city to those who donât know God or who fight against him. The situation I describe is proof of a great failure by the laity in their task of the consecratio mundi (the sanctifying of the world). It is the sin of laziness, of suicidal abstentionism.
I ask you: how many great newspapers can you name - of the type that have millions of readers and make and unmake public opinion - that are run by practising Catholics? Not a single one. On the contrary, they are all run by Protestants, Jews, freemasons or militant Marxists.
Think of the four or five great international Press agencies which currently have a monopoly on daily information for the whole world: hardly anywhere in them can you find Catholics in positions of influence. Think of the great film companies, the international distributors, the advertising industry, the cinema chains⌠and you will realize that there are no Catholics there either.
Everywhere you look, Catholics have allowed themselves to be bypassed. If the enemies of God have not taken over every single position, it is not because they have found Catholics already occupying certain jobs and doing them well, but because they donât mind in the least that others should retain subordinate posts. They have concentrated on capturing the vital positions and from these they control everything, just allowing the bare minimum of involvement to others to give the appearance of openness, and to disguise their monopoly.
Things have reached such an extent that in many places it seems humanly impossible not to count on them and even less to be independent of them or oppose them. For example, a newspaper or a radio station canât provide a foreign news service unless it is a client of one of the big international news agencies. Any other approach would immediately place them at a disadvantage because of increased operating costs, a greatly reduced selection of material, or news items being less up-to-the-minute than those of other newspapers or radio stations. Likewise, it is not possible for a film company to have access to the most lucrative markets without accepting the conditions on technical matters and on content imposed by the companies that have exclusive rights to distribution.
We cannot remain inactive. Because we are Christians, and Christians who have a special divine vocation to sanctify temporal affairs, we have the great responsibility of bringing the leaven of Christ to all environments. God wishes us to place him once more at the summit of all human activities: he particularly expects this service, this cooperation, from us, to ensure on earth ever more abundant fruits of the Redemption, which is manâs only true liberation. It is with this hope and with this responsibility that we work.
We have to sow the seed of Christian doctrine widely.
Most beloved daughters and sons, I have never wished to paint you a desolate and barren panorama, nor am I tempted to complain about the times we live in. This is where Godâs Providence has placed us, and we love it as the field of our sanctification.
The awareness that there are a lot of weeds in Godâs field should compel us to carry out an intense doctrinal apostolate. This is the invitation addressed to us in Psalm Two: Apprehendite disciplinam - Take his teaching: embrace the good doctrine. We want to bring people to Christ. We want all human beings to love him. But, quomodo ergo invocabunt in quem non crediderunt? How are they to call upon him if they have not believed? Aut quomodo credent ei quem non audierunt? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? Quomodo autem audient sine praedicante? And how are they to hear without a preacher?
It is our mission, as I was saying, to give doctrine, to spread Godâs light, to wage this marvellous war of peace and love; to bring it to all peoples, without exception of race, or tongue, or social circumstances. Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium bonum (how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news): how happy is the arrival of those who proclaim the gospel of peace, of those who announce the things that are truly good!
You can be quite certain that as this apostolate develops, and spreads good doctrine through all the channels provided by modern society, the great problems of public opinion will eventually be solved thanks to the Christian spirit with which all those activities will be imbued. A campaign of manliness and purity will be waged to counteract and undo the savage work of those who think that man is a beast. Relations among peoples will be filled with charity; and hatreds, fratricidal struggles and divisions will all be stilled.
Donât be afraid, then, of the present situation, or think it canât be remedied. Donât be frightened by the waves stirred up by the storms in the ocean of the world. Donât be tempted to run away, because this world is ours: it is Godâs work and he has given it to us as an inheritance. Every week we recite and meditate on the Psalm of Christâs kingship. In it the Lord says: Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae- You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. We, sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ, have a share in this inheritance, which is the whole world: si autem filii et heredes: heredes quidem Dei, coheredes autem Christi: if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ.
With faith like this we can work away calmly without being frightened by the difficulties: inter medium montium pertransibunt aquae: the waters - living waters, the grace of Christ - will pass through the mountains. The more evil we encounter, the greater our sense of responsibility should be. The more drawbacks we meet, the greater should be our determination to overcome them, the greater our effort to cultivate the field and root out the weeds that smother the good seed.
It is true that Christians, and especially those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the Lordâs service, cannot forget that regnum meum non est de hoc mundo: Christâs kingdom is not of this world. Therefore it is often possible for it to seem as if Godâs enemy has triumphed. But this thought must not give rise to inertia or abstentionism, that reprehensible sleep I was talking about earlier. It must not cause us to pull back or take refuge in our inhibitions. On the contrary, it has to lead us to work harder and to make a firm resolution never to fall asleep.
Let us have recourse to our Lady, our Mother, Regina Mundi, Queen of the World, knowing that our inheritance extends to the ends of the earth, as Scripture tells us: dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae: I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. She will make our resolutions from this time of prayer effective.