Good morning good people,
May the Lord give you peace, and blessings in the Holy Spirit. It is 26th July 2025. We celebrate the memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We reflect on Exodus 24:3-8 and the Gospel from Matthew 13:24-30.
“Joachim and Anne, how blessed and spotless you are! You gave birth to the Mother of God without stain, the most pure one who bore God in her womb. Rejoice, O blessed couple, for you gave to the world a gift greater than the heavens themselves.” — St. John Damascene, Homily on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Are we throwing the baby out with the bucket?
We are, by nature, good people. Yet, the environment and those we allow into our lives can sometimes choke the growth of goodness within us.
Often, in our haste to eliminate evil, we uproot the good that God has planted in us. True transformation requires patience. It is through patient endurance that we can overcome evil.
While God is constantly sowing the Word of Life, there is also one who secretly and subtly sows seeds of evil.
Just like the people of Israel, who promised to keep the covenant yet quickly turned to idols, we too must recall and renew our promises to God frequently.
The parable of the wheat and the weeds, found only in Matthew’s Gospel, reminds us that evil will coexist with good for a time. Our weakness and vulnerability may tempt us to despair, but God invites us to persevere patiently. Discernment between good and evil is not easy—but possible with grace.
Our focus must be on protecting the good: the virtues, relationships, and holy habits that nurture life. Without compromising truth and justice, we must cultivate compassion, tolerance, patience, understanding, and endurance. These virtues will allow the wheat in us to flourish even amidst weeds.
Let us not allow evil to have the final word. Being good and doing good is the antidote to the evil that stunts our growth.
May the Lord bless you with the grace of patience to allow His goodness in you to grow abundantly.
God bless you.