Let The Master Have His Last
Say
(see
Mt 13:24-30)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in
Christ,
From time immemorial, humanity has been
familiar with dualism appearing in many and different forms. Dualism means the belief in two factors that
go sometimes hand in hand, but other times head-on.
In eastern philosophy, yin and yang, or the
negative and the positive, are the two basic elements that govern the
universe. Oriental medicine in general
could be seen as the art of making a good balance between yin and yang in one
person’s physical, emotional and spiritual life in order to keep them in good
health.
Western wisdom gets interested in man’s body
and soul, mind and heart, matter and spirit.
Contrary to people in the east, those in the west have tried to get rid
of one element in favor of the other. As
the result of this exclusive mentality, the western part of the world has
gained fast successful development in science and technology, but it also
suffers from endless conflict between the two opposite factors.
Both the east and the west, however, have to
face the scary dualism in their moral life: the Good and the Evil.
The Good symbolizes people’s beautiful dreams
about a successful career and happy life.
The Evil, on the contrary, represents bad luck, suffering, and death.
Where did the Good and the Evil come from?
Some maintain that they are products of the
two opposite powers that rule over the world: Lord Good and Lord Evil. Good and Evil have been engaged in an endless
power dispute that has ended up in causing humanity countless problems.
Others, many of whom are Christians, believe
that the Lord God and Creator made all things, humanity included, good, simply
because God by His very nature is good.
Unfortunately, the Evil One had caused everything to turn upside down by
tempting man to sin against God. Sin,
therefore, is the cause of all forms of suffering of which death is the most
frightening.
Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior in the
Gospel story of the co-existence of the wheat and the weeds clearly tells us
the following truths:
1. There are both good
people, the wheat, and bad people, the weeds, living together in society;
2. Good people are children
of God Who always sows good seeds of love, peace and compassion
3. Bad people are weeds sowed
by the devil, the enemy of the Master of the field, as seeds of hatred,
jealousy, division and death
Facing
this sad reality, good people get angry with bad people and want to get rid of
them. This is how people of extremist
and fundamentalist position have reacted to all forms of evil in the world by
taking violent and bloody measures.
Unfortunately, this eye for eye
and tooth for tooth solution has added
more fuel to the fire, and so done more
harm than good.
The
Gospel, on the contrary, tells Christians to be patient and wait for the due
time of the Lord God, the harvest time, the Last Judgment, when absolute
justice will be done to all people, both good and bad.
These
details eventually reveal to us the very important Christian faith that the
Lord God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also our Father in heaven,
is the Master of the universe, the Almighty Lord of humanity. God alone created the world and He saw it
good. God also created the human race
and saw them very good. It was the devil
who sowed evil seeds into the world and into the hearts of people. It was the devil who tempted man and caused
him to sin against God’s love. Sin has
caused man to be separated from God, the very source of love, peace and
life. Sin has also caused man to be
separated from his neighbor, inciting them to point an accusing finger at each
other. Sin has distorted the once
beautiful image of God in man.
Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior wants us to calm down and spend time looking deep
into our hearts to question ourselves, to examine our conscience and
acknowledge the truth that for all forms of evil in society we are surely
responsible, either in thoughts, in words or in deeds.
Only
when we admit that we, too, are sinful and that we need God’s mercy and
forgiveness, can we take part in the saving mission of Jesus Christ our Lord
and Savior Who will come one day in glory to separate wheat from weeds, sheep
from goats, children of God from children of Evil.
This
humble admission of sin will help us at the same time to loudly proclaim to all
people the Good News of God’s love and salvation, and courageously denounce all
forms of injustices, violations of human dignity and rights.
We
have to fight fearlessly for our integral identity as salt of the earth, light
of the world and yeast mixed in wheat flour in order to serve the common good
of people. Amen.
Fr. Francis Nguyen Van Nhut, O.P.
