SPEAKER_00: There's a misconception a lot of people fall into.
SPEAKER_00: We think that God doesn't really care how we live in the day-to-day.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes you'll hear people say, God is love.
SPEAKER_00: He understands.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about it.
SPEAKER_00: Everything will work out.
SPEAKER_00: Just trust.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God is love.
SPEAKER_00: But because he loves us, he will always tell us the hard truth.
SPEAKER_00: He will challenge us.
SPEAKER_00: Today's gospel reminds us of something that we don't hear very often.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus speaks about judgment.
SPEAKER_00: He explains the parable of the wheat and the weeds.
SPEAKER_00: The good seed represents the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: The weeds represent the work of the evil one, and for a time they grow together, but not forever.
SPEAKER_00: The harvest is coming, and Jesus doesn't soften his words.
SPEAKER_00: There will be a separation.
SPEAKER_00: The righteous will shine like the sun in the Father's kingdom, while evil will not have the final word.
SPEAKER_00: That can make us uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people don't like to think about that.
SPEAKER_00: But it shouldn't make us uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine a judge who never sentences anyone, no matter how terrible the crime.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine a teacher who gives every student in the classroom an A, regardless of whether they studied or made any effort.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine a referee who ignored every foul in a championship game.
SPEAKER_00: Do whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't call that mercy.
SPEAKER_00: We would call it injustice, in fact.
SPEAKER_00: Love without truth isn't really love at all.
SPEAKER_00: And justice without mercy isn't God's justice.
SPEAKER_00: God holds both together.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what we see in the first reading from Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah isn't standing above the people pointing his finger at them, wagging his finger.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's weeping.
SPEAKER_00: He sees the destruction that sin has brought upon his nation and it breaks his heart.
SPEAKER_00: Listen again to his words.
SPEAKER_00: Let my eyes stream with tears day and night without rest.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because sin always wounds the one who commits it.
SPEAKER_00: We often think God hates sin because he likes making rules.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not it.
SPEAKER_00: God hates sin because he loves sinners.
SPEAKER_00: A loving parent doesn't hate cancer because cancer breaks rules.
SPEAKER_00: A loving parent hates cancer because cancer destroys their child.
SPEAKER_00: God sees what sin does to us.
SPEAKER_00: He sees what it does to a broken marriage, how it divides families, how addiction takes over lives and destroys it.
SPEAKER_00: Hearts becoming hard, indifferent, souls that drift further and further from God.
SPEAKER_00: Unlike Jeremiah, God grieves.
SPEAKER_00: But notice something else.
SPEAKER_00: People finally begin to pray differently.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of blaming everyone else, they say, we recognize our wickedness.
SPEAKER_00: We have sinned against you.
SPEAKER_00: That's where healing begins.
SPEAKER_00: The moment excuses end, and we own up to it.
SPEAKER_00: As long as we're blaming our spouse, as long as we're blaming our parents, this is what they did to me, this is what society has done to me, but politics in the way that no, our upbringing or nothing changes.
SPEAKER_00: Our first step towards holiness is always humility.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I've done.
SPEAKER_00: Those may be the most powerful words we ever speak.
SPEAKER_00: They're the words that open the door to grace.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the sacrament of reconciliation is so beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: We don't go to confession because God doesn't know our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he knows them.
SPEAKER_00: We go because we need to acknowledge them, own up to them, claim them, but then we receive his mercy and begin again.
SPEAKER_00: Every confession is a reminder that while judgment is real, mercy is always available.
SPEAKER_00: As long as we're alive, as long as we're breathing, the harvest has not yet come.
SPEAKER_00: God keeps offering grace, keeps calling us, keeps offering forgiveness, keeps offering another day, another chance.
SPEAKER_00: But one day, Jesus says the harvest will arrive.
SPEAKER_00: It's not meant to frighten us, it's meant to focus you.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because life does matter.
SPEAKER_00: Our choices matter.
SPEAKER_00: Holiness matters.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus ends with one of the most breathtaking promises of all scripture.
SPEAKER_00: The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't simply want to forgive you, He wants to transform you.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your life to reflect his own light.
SPEAKER_00: So today don't be afraid to look honestly at your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, where have the weeds begun to grow?
SPEAKER_00: What needs to be pulled out before it spreads?
SPEAKER_00: Then bring it to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Because the same Jesus who speaks about the harvest is the same Jesus who died on the cross so that every single one of us could become wheat gathered into his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: We should desire heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That has to be our goal.
SPEAKER_00: Today is another opportunity to choose Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And if we do, one day, well, by his grace, we really will shine like the sun and enjoy the benefits of being and living in his presence.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.